








I 



» 






. 



I LIBRARY OF CONGRESSES 

I [SMITHSONIAN DEPOSIT.] f 



^UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ♦ 



SABBATH EVENING LECTURES; 



OR THE 



REFUGE OF LIES AND THE COVERT FROM THE STORM 



BEING 



A SERIES OF THIRTEEN LECTURES 



ON THE DOCTRINE OF 

FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 



He preach'd the joys of heaven, and pains of hell, 
And warn'd the sinner with becoming zeal, 
But on eternal mercy lov'd to dwell. 

Dryden's " Character of a good Parson." 



BY THE REV. BENJAMIN I. LANE. 







U 
TROY, N. Y.: 

YOUNG & HARTT, 216 RIVER-STREET. 

PROM THE PEESS OF X. TUTTLE, CCXXV. EIVEE-STREET. 

1844. 




-'•|i I- m 




The Library 
of Congress 

Washington 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1844, by 

YOUNG & HARTT, 
In the Clerk's Office for the Northern District of New-York. 



Ill 



PREFACE. 



These Lectures were undertaken in the ordinary course of ministe- 
rial duty. Sometime during- the last fall, I began to cast about my 
thought in search of a suitable subject for a Course of Lectures. Ma- 
ny circumstances led me to settle down upon that of Future Punish- 
ment. I saw that many around me were resting their hopes of heaven 
upon the belief that all men are finally to be saved : how could I but 
raise a note of alarm ? 

I natter myself that I have not been actuated by a love of controver. 
sy. Nor were these lectures undertaken with the most distant thought 
of publication. They were nearly finished before I was inclined to 
think that it might be my duty to give them to the public. Finding 
that they were regularly taken down by one or more reporters, and 
that great injustice was being done me, by the circulation of a pre- 
tended reply, written from necessarily imperfect notes, I finally deter- 
mined to let the lectures speak for themselves. I may here add, that 
the importunity of friends, whose judgement I have been in the habit 
of respecting, and especially the oft repeated wishes of the members of 
my own dear church and congregation, have had great weight in lead- 
ing me into the adoption of my present course. 

As justice to myself is confessedly a part of my motive in making 
these lectures public, still farther justice leads me to state, that they 
have all been prepared in the midst of severe affliction in my family. I 
have had very little time to labor them. Besides sickness in my farai- 



IV 

ly, which has occupied much of ray time, I have had all the ordinary 
duties of a clergyman to perform, from which I have had only an occa- 
sional relief. 

It will be perceived by those who listened to the lectures as first de- 
livered, that the original number, twenty, has been reduced to thirteen. 
This has been done to bring the work into a smaller and cheaper com- 
pass. The first thirteen of the twenty, were delivered to my own con- 
gregation from brief notes. In their present form they were repeated 
in the city of Troy. Upon the author's turning his attention to pub- 
lishing, he found that it would be better to classify the several passa- 
ges made use of by Universalists, an answer to one of which would be 
an answer to all. This classification may not be apparent in all cases. 
To mention an instance, — those passages containing universal terms , 
such as all and every > have been thus dealt with, and a rule given for 
their correct understanding. By this, and similar processes, the bulk 
of the work has been greatly reduced. 

"Wherever the author has been indebted to others, he has given the 
customary credit by marginal references, or has incorporated it in the 
body of the work. 

The lectures are now submitted to the perusal of the reader, but not 
without the earnest prayer of the author, that his labor be not in vain. 

BENJ. I. LANE. 
West Troy, May 6, 1844. 



CONTENTS. 



LECTURE I. 

PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE, ADDUCED BY UNIVERSAL - 
ISTS IN SUPPORT OF THE DOCTRINE OF UNIVER- 
SAL SALVATION, EXAMINED, 9 

Remarks on Greek terms, Tlielo,. 11 

Boulomai, 15 

LECTURE II.. 

PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE, ADDUCED BY UNIVERSAL- 
ISTS IN SUPPORT OF THE DOCTRINE OF UNIVER- 
SAL SALVATION, EXAMINED, 35 

LECTURE III. 

DOCTRINE OF ENDLESS PUNISHMENT ACCORDING 

TO THE LAW AND THE TESTIMONY, 63 

Remarks on the terms, SheoL 65 

Hades, 67 

Gehenna,* 72 

LECTURE IV. 

DIRECT ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE TO PROVE 

THE DOCTRINE OF ENDLESS PUNISHMENT, S9 

Argument founded upon the promises of scripture, 91 

Argument founded upon those passages of scripture, which repre- 
sent sinners as in danger of future punishment 95 

Argument founded upon those passages of scripture, which assert 
that some men shall never enter the kingdom of heaven, 101 

LECTURE V.. 

DIRECT ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE TO PROVE 

THE DOCTRINE OF ENDLESS PUNISHMENT 117 

Argument founded upon those passages of scripture which repre- 
sent the future and final state of man.in contrast,.^ 120 

1* 



VI 

Argument founded upon those passages of scripture which inti- 
mate that a change of heart and a preparation for heaven are con- 
fined to this life, 132 

Argument founded upon those passages of scripture which fore- 
tell the consequences of rejecting the gospel, 137 

LECTURE VI. 

DIRECT ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE TO PROVE 

THE DOCTRINE OF ENDLESS PUNISHMENT, 147 

Argument founded upon those passages of scripture which repre- 
sent the punishment of some men as remediless, or which imply its 

eternity, 150 

Argument founded upon those passages of scripture which ap- 
ply the terms "everlasting," "eternal," "forever," and "forever 
and ever," to future punishment, 159 

LECTURE VII. 

THE POSITION, ASSUMED BY UNIVERSAL1STS, THAT 

THE WICKED RECEIVE ALL THEIR PUNISHMENT 

IN THIS LIFE, DISPROVED, 169 

Penalty of the divine law proportioned to the good to be secured 
by it, 172 

Not true, in point of fact, that the wicked are punished in this 
life, according to the demerit of their offences, 176 

The righteous often suffer much more in this life than the wick- 
ed, 179 

Inward horrors and remorse of conscience, in the present life, 
do not constitute the punishment of the wicked, 181 

Assumption that all men receive the punishment their sins de- 
serve, in the present life, a plain denial of the mercy of God, 183 

Not true that the wicked receive their punishment in this life, be- 
cause multitudes have died, and do die, in the very act of sinning 
with a high hand, , 185 

Not true that the wicked receive the punishment of their sins in 
this life, because God hath appointed a day in which he will judge 
the world, 187 

That the wicked are punished according to their deserts, in this 
life, inconsistent with the account the scriptures give of Judas Is- 
cariot, 188 

According to the doctrine of universal salvation, the position that 



Vll 

the wicked are punished according to their deserts, in this life, in- 
volves an absurdity, 189 

LECTURL VIII. 

THE MORAL INFLUENCE OF UNIVERSALISM, 193 

According to Universalism, sin ceases to be sin when conscience 

ceases to reprove, 197 

Script lire makes it the duty of christians to " come out from the 
world," to " confess Christ before men," and to unite themselves 
in church covenant with the people of God; to attend meetings 
for religious conference and prayer ; to pray in their families and 
in the closet, and to send the gospel to the destitute ; which Uni- 

versalism does not, . ....... 201 

L T niversalism never produces revivals of religion, . .205 

Influence of Universalism upon the minds of men tends to sub- 
vert the moral government of God, 207 

Direct tendency of Universalism is to strengthen the hands of the 

wicked, 210 

Universalism consorts with Infidelity,. 212 

LECTURE IX. 

THE ENDLESS PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED NOT 

INCONSISTENT WITH THE JUSTICE OF GOD, 217 

Either God's law is unjust, or he is righteous in taking ven- 
geance, 222 

Either the gospel is not what it purports to be ; a system devised 
by infinite wisdom for delivering men from sin ; either its conditions 
are unjust, or God is righteous in taking vengeance on them that 

obey it not. ....... 231 

Either God is unjust in punishing the wicked at all, or he is 

righteous in punishing them forever, 235 

Either God in justice ought to reclaim and save sinners, as soon 
as they become such, or he is righteous in taking vengeance, 237 

LECTURE X. 

THE ENDLESS PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED NOT 

INCONSISTENT WITH THE LOVE OF GOD, 243 

Endless punishment of the wicked not inconsistent with God's 

love of benevolence, , 246 



Vlll 

Endless punishment of the wicked not inconsistent with God's 
love of complacency, 259 

LECTURE XI. 

GOD GLORIOUS IN HOLINESS, IN THE ENDLESS 
PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED, 265 

God has appeared " glorious in holiness," in all his judgments 

which he has from time to time sent upon the wicked, 267 

The heavenly hosts will praise God for punishing the wicked, . . .270 

God glorified in the sufferings of Christ,.. 273 

That God will be glorified in the destruction of the wicked, ap- 
pears from the relation that subsists between God and man, 275 

No place in the universe for which the finally wicked are fitted, 

but hell,.., 280 

Evil nature of sin fully developed at the judgment, 282 

LECTURE XII, 

UNIVERSALISM REJECTED BY THE PIOUS, 289 

The righteous are made sad by the promulgation of the dogma of 

universal salvation, because it is not true, 292 

Because it strengthens the hands of the wicked, 294 

Because its influence goes to lead men to destruction, 296 

Because it makes the atonement of Christ, not the l ' wisdom of 

God," but a piece of folly, 300 

Because it grieves the Spirit of God, . . . 302 

Because it never begets a spirit of prayer, but disinclines to the 

practice of it all those who embrace the system, 304 

Because it never begets a spirit of tender compassion for souls, . . 305 

LECTURE XIII. 

THE IMMUTABILITY OF MAN'S MORAL CHARACTER 

AND CONDITION IN A FUTURE WORLD, .311 

That there will be no change of man's moral character and con- 
dition in a future state, is evident from the fact, that probation is 

limited, 314 

None of the peculiar means which God has appointed to produce 
a change of moral character, employed to that end in a future state,316 

The condition and circumstances of beings in the other world, 
such as are fitted to confirm and perpetuate, and not to produce a 
change in their moral character, 326 



LECTURE L 



8=~ 



PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE, ADDUCED BY UNIVERSALISTS 
IN SUPPORT OF THE DOCTRINE OF UNIVERSAL SALVA- 
TION, EXAMINED. 



2. Peter, iii. 15, 16. And account that the long-suffering of our 
Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to 
the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you ; 

As also in all his epistles speaking in them of these things ; in which 
are some things hard to be understood, which the}'' that are unlearned 
and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their 
own destruction. 

By the u unlearned," in these words, we un- 
derstand the apostle to mean those who are not 
" taught of God," who have never " heard or 
learned of the Father," and who will not come 
to Christ to receive instruction from him. # By 
the " unstable," we understand him to mean those 
who are " carried about with everv wind of doc- 
trine, by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness 
whereby they lie in wait to deceive."! Men in 

* John vi. 45. f Eph. iv. 14. 






10 SCRIPTURE ADDUCED BY 

an unconverted state do not love the truth, and 
they " wrest the scriptures," to make them appear 
to mean something other than the obvious sense. 

You will observe that St. Peter says, " the un- 
learned and unstable," not only wrest the sayings 
of Paul that are " hard to be understood," but 
also " the other scriptures." Plain passages are 
wrested as well as those that are obscure. Al- 
though there are some portions of scripture which 
are dark, and mysterious — designedly so for im- 
portant reasons, which we cannot now notice — ■ 
yet all that is necessary for us to know, in order to 
salvation, and to make us perfect men in Christ 
Jesus, is perfectly plain and easy to be under- 
stood. 

The scriptures are able to make us " wise unto 
salvation, through faith in Christ Jesus. '** In 
them we have the way of eternal life most clearly 
pointed out, and no man need be mistaken or de- 
ceived. u Wresting the scriptures," however, is 
a sure way to destruction. Those who do so. turn 
the index which points to heaven, so as to direct 
the traveler to the " wide gate, and the broad 
way." 

My object in this lecture will be, to show that 
Universalists, in a pre-eminent manner, " wrest 
the scriptures." 

* 2 Timothy, iii. 13; 



UNIVERSALISTS, EXAMINED. 11 

To accomplish this object, we lvill consider 
many of those passages which they adduce to 
support the doctrine of universal salvation. 

Great stress is laid upon the words found in I. 
Timothy ii. 3, 4. " For this is good, and accep- 
table, in the sight of God our Saviour : who will 
have all men to be saved, and to come unto the 
knowledge of the truth." It is said that "God's 
will is alwavs efficient, and that all men must be 
saved, if he wills their salvation." 

As the Greek term ^slu (thelo,) employed in 
this passage, and rendered, ivill, by our transla- 
tors, is often referred to, to confirm this position, 
we will refer to a few passages in which it is used, 
that we may learn its usus loquendi in the New 
Testament. We have not been able to find a 
single instance, in which it is used in the sense of 
decreeing. It most generally signifies, to please, 
to choose, to ivish, to desire, I. Cor. iv. 19. " I 
will come to you shortly if the Lord %shstfy\ ivill" 
Matt. ii. 18. " Rachel ri^sXs would not be comfort- 
ed." Luke viii. 20. " Thy mother and thy 
brethren stand without ^sXovrsg desiring to see 
thee." Luke xxiii. 8. " And when Herod saw 
Jesus he was exceeding glad, for he was §s\w 
desirous to see him of a long season." John xvi. 
19. " Now Jesus knew that they were ^sXsv de- 
sirous to ask him." Gal. iv. 20. "I r^sXov de- 



12 SCRIPTURE ADDUCED BY 

sire to be present with you." Mark ix. 13. 
" They have done unto him whatsoever they ^SsXt]. 
<fav listed " It is needless to occupy your atten- 
tion by multiplying references, which we could do 
to almost any extent. In the text under conside- 
ration, the term is evidently used in the sense of 
desiring. " God our Saviour desires all men to 
be saved and to come to the knowledge of the 
truth." In the Old Testament, God often expres- 
ses his desire that the wicked would turn from 
their evil ways and live. 

God is often said to will things which never 
come to pass. " He does not afflict willingly, nor 
grieve the children of men." No one can sup- 
pose that God wills that men should murder, and 
oppress one another. His law is a clear expres- 
sion of his will, and it is violated every day. Can 
it be supposed that God more strongly desires, or 
wills, the final happiness of men, than he desires 
that they would cease to do evil ? Not a day 
passes, in which God's will is not contravened, 
in innumerable cases. 

The same " God our Saviour," who, in the text 
under consideration, is said to will all men to be 
saved, also willed to gather the children of Jeru- 
salem under his protecting care, but they would 
not, and perished in their iniquity. The same 



UNIVERSALISTS, EXAMINED. 13 

term Ss/w, rendered will in the text, is used in 
this passage.* 

That the will of God our Saviour, that all men 
should be saved, and come to the knowledge of 
the truth, simply expresses his desire as a being of 
universal benevolence, and that it is not efficient 
as it relates to all men, is clear, from the fact that 
all men are not brought to the knowledge of the 
truth. It is expressed as the will of God, that all 
men should come to the knowledge of the truth, 
as strongly as that all men should be saved. In- 
deed we cannot be saved without thus coming to 
the knowledge of the truth ; for it is by the truth 
as an indispensable means, that we are saved. 
But will any one contend, that all men are brought 
to the knowledge of the truth ? Universalists 
will not, for they maintain that to be brought to 
the knowledge of the truth, is to be brought to 
the knowledge that all men will be saved ; 
whereas no devout and praying christian believes 
such a sentiment. As it regards the truth itself, 
as maintained by all evangelical christians, the 
great mass of mankind yet remain in darkness, — 
" blinded by the god of this world." 

The text under consideration expresses it as the 
will of God our Saviour that all men should now 
be saved, and brought to the knowledge of the 

* Luke xiii. 24. 



14 SCRIPTURE ADDUCED BY 

truth. In the Greek text the present tense is em- 
ployed — " og #ccv<ra£ avfywtfous §8/tsi (fu&Hvou, who wills 
all men to be saved." To suppose that he wills 
all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge 
of the truth, at some future time, and not now, 
would be, to suppose him pleased that they should 
continue in sin, and under condemnation, for the 
present time ; which would be to stamp the cha- 
racter of God with the unholiness of wicked men. 
The salvation of the gospel is a deliverance from 
the love and dominion of sin, which finally issues 
in the holiness, and happiness of heaven. The 
will of God our Saviour then, in reference to the 
salvation of all men, and in reference to their be- 
ing brought to the knowledge of the truth, is as 
plainly contravened by the will of impenitent 
men, as the will of Christ was, in reference to the 
children of Jerusalem, by their opposing wills — 
" I would have gathered you," says he, " but ye 
would not." 

Very similar language to this, employed by 
Paul to Timothy, is used by Peter in the ninth 
verse of the chapter from which we have taken 
our text — " The Lord is not slack concerning his 
promise, as some men count slackness: but is 
long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any 
should perish, but that all should come to repen- 
tance. " The term here rendered willing is 



UNIVERSALISTS, EXAMINED. 15 

€ouAasvos, bonlomenos, from §ou/o^ai, boulomai. Its 
meaning is the same as that of Ss/w, /AeZo, only it 
is supposed to be used in a more passive sense. 
It is here plainly stated to be the will of the Lord, 
that all should come to repentance ; yet many are 
impenitent, and continue impenitent through their 
life time. If then, they continue impenitent 
through their life time, notwithstanding God wills 
that they should now come to repentance, we 
have every reason to believe that they will con- 
tinue impenitent forever. 

The very language, " not willing that any 
should perish" implies that some are in danger 
of perishing, whereas if it were the purpose of 
God to save all men, there would be no danger. 
If, in this chapter, the apostle intended to teach 
the salvation of all men, what means he by the 
phrase, " long-suffering of God to us-ward," 
which supposes a termination ? What means he 
by the warning, " the day of the Lord will come 
as a thief"? If all are to be saved, though it 
comes suddenly, all will be ready. What means 
he by the exhortation to be " diligent that we 
may be found of him in peace"? If all men are 
to be saved, all will instantly be at peace. What 
means he, in the text, by the phrase, " wresting 
the scriptures to their own destruction"? Imme- 
diately preceding these words, the apostle speaks 



16 SCRIPTURE ADDUCED BY 

of the perishing, antediluvians and then says, 
" But the heavens and the earth which are now, 
by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto 
fire against the day of judgment, and perdition of 
ungodly men." After thus explicitly stating the 
destruction of the ungodly, the apostle throws in 
the ninth verse, to show that they perish, not be- 
cause God wills it, but in spite of his long suffer- 
ing, his merciful desires, and efforts to bring them 
to repentance and save them. 

We have dwelt longer upon these passages 
than to some might seem necessary, because Uni- 
versalists deem them so important, in support of 
their theory. From our examination of them we 
see that the very foundation of their system, which 
ought to be of adamant, if the salvation of the 
soul is to rest upon it, is composed of materials 
which furnish an unanswerable argument in favor 
of the doctrine of future punishment. Their ar- 
gument is this — " All men will be saved, because 
God wills their salvation." But we see that al- 
though God wills the immediate deliverance of 
all men from the curse of the law, their attain- 
ment of a saving knowledge of the truth, and 
their sincere repentance, yet multitudes remain 
through life without being made partakers of 
these benefits. The conclusion, therefore, is irre- 



UNIVERSALISTS, EXAMINED. 17 

sistible, that they will forever continue in the 
same state of condemnation, and smart under the 
inflictions of a holy and righteous administration. 
Another passage, deserving a moment's conside- 
ration, is found in 1 Tim. ii. 6 — " "Who gave 
himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due 
time." These words immediately follow the 
first passage we noticed, " Who will have all 
men to be saved," &c, and the apostle presents 
this fact that " Christ gave himself for all," as 
evidence of God's sincere desire for the salvation 
of all men. But as we have seen that God's will 
is contravened by the opposing will of the impeni- 
tent, — for they " will not come to Christ that they 
may have life," — so the ransom price is paid for 
them in vain. They will not accept of liberty. 
The apostle seems to have had his eye particular- 
ly upon the fact that the Gentiles, as well as the 
Jews, are interested, and may be benefited by 
the atonement of Christ. " Whereunto," says 
he, in the words following, "I am ordained a 
preacher and an apostle (I speak the truth in 
Christ, I lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in 
faith and verity." It was to make salvation pos- 
sible to the whole human family that Christ died ; 
but this by no means proves that all men will be 
saved, for multitudes deliberately, and obstinate- 

2* 



18 SCRIPTURE ADDUCED BY 

ly, refuse it. Paul speaks in plain terms of some 
" perishing for whom Christ died. % 

A parallel passage, and one much insisted up- 
on by Universalists, is found in Heb. ii. 9. " But 
we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than 
the angels for the suffering of death, crowned 
with glory and honor : that he by the grace of 
God should taste death for every man." " It is 
plain," says Dr. Macknight, " that both good 
and bad men owe their present life on earth, and 
the gracious covenant under which they are plac- 
ed, and their resurrection from the dead at the 
last day, to the death of Christ." In this sense 
he tasted death for every man. 

But we consider the passage, and also the fore- 
going, as teaching explicitly the universality and 
sufficiency of the atonement. Christ has wrought 
a salvation sufficient for the whole world, and it 
is freely offered to all men. He " tasted death 
for every man," — that every man might be saved 
who would accept of salvation on the condition 
upon which it is offered. No child of the human 
family is excepted. Every man, in consequence 
of the death of Christ, is put upon a new state of 
trial. As the tree of knowledge of good and evil 
was placed in the garden, and Adam was left free 
to eat of it and die ; so now, by the death of 

* 1 Cor. iii. 11. 



UNIVERSALISTSj EXAMINED. 19 

Christ, the tree of life is made accessible, and eve- 
ry man may put forth his hand and eat and live 
forever. Christ died for every man. We love to 
repeat this precious truth. Every man, who will, 
may come to Christ and receive a life of everlast- 
ing holiness and happiness. But are we hence to 
infer that all men will be saved ? The atonement 
of Christ is sufficient to save the whole world, but 
does it follow that all will, in consequence, be 
saved ? There is fuel enough in the country to 
keep every person warm, but is it therefore cer- 
tain, that none, even through their own neglect, 
will freeze ? There is food sufficient to sustain 
both man and beast, but does it follow, that none 
will starve ? It may be said that fuel and food 
may not be within the reach of all. But salvation 
is ; it is attainable by all, and none perish but 
through their own wilful impenitency, and unbe- 
lief. None indeed can come to Christ for life, 
except he is drawn by the Father ; but no one is 
restrained from coming ; — it is only because of 
their love of sin and hatred of Christ that they 
cannot come. 

That Christ died for all men, and yet that none 
but believers will be saved in consequence, is stat- 
ed as plainly as language can state it, in the gos- 
pel according to John, the third chapter, begin- 
ning at the fourteenth verse — " And as Moses lift- 



20 SCRIPTURE ADDUCED BY 

ed up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must 
the Son of man be lifted up ; that whosoever be- 
lieveth in him should not perish, but have everlast- 
ing life. For God so loved the world," not the 
few, but the many — the whole world — " that he 
gave his only begotten Son," — and so all shall be 
saved ? No ; — " that whosoever believeth in him 
should not perish, but have everlasting life. For 
God sent not his Son into the world to condemn 
the world, 55 — here, again, the terms are universal 
— " but that the world through him might be sav- 
ed. 55 Possibility and not certainty is intimated by 
the terms " might be saved. 55 These terms are 
as broad and significant as any that can be found, 
but does it follow from them that none will be 
condemned ? It is immediately added, " He 
that believeth on him is not condemned^ but he that 
believeth not is condemned already, because he 
hath not believed in the name of the only begotten 
Son of God. 55 These words are a full, and clear 
explanation of all those passages where the death 
of Christ is spoken of as of universal efficacy. 

Again, Isaiah xxv. 7, 8, is quoted in support of 
the doctrine of universal salvation. " And he 
will destroy in this mountain the face of the cover- 
ing cast over all people, and the vail that is spread 
over all nations. He will swallow up death in 
victory ; and the Lord God will wipe away tears 



UNIVERSALISTS, EXAMINED. 21 

from off all faces, and the rebuke of his people 
shall he take away from off all the earth : for the 
Lord hath spoken it." This chapter is a prophe- 
cy. The language is highly figurative. Many 
suppose that it refers to the great joy, which 
should be in Zion and Jerusalem, either when the 
army of the Syrians should be routed by an angel, 
or when the Jews should be released from their 
captivity in Babylon. "Whether this means lite- 
rally all men, or only all of a certain class, in cer- 
tain circumstances, we will leave the reader to 
judge by referring him to the ninth verse, the 
verse but one succeeding that quoted. Let us re- 
peat the whole of the three verses, " He will 
swallow up death in victory ; and the Lord God 
will wipe away tears from off all faces, and the 
rebuke of his people shall he take away from off 
all the earth, for the Lord hath spoken it. And 
it shall be said in that day, Lo this is our God ; 
we have waited for him, and he will save us : this 
is the Lord ; we have waited for him, we will be 
glad and rejoice in his salvation. For in this 
mountain shall the hand of the Lord rest, and 
Moab shall be trodden doivn under him, even as 
strata is trodden down for the dung-hill ." Here 
is evidently a part of the human family that do 
not participate in the blessings so animatingly de- 
scribed. When God's people are delivered, fill* 



22 SCRIPTURE ADDUCED BY 

ed with joy and elevated, Moab shall be abased, 
afflicted, and trodden down. The terms then 
evidently do not mean all men literally. 

If the passage be referred to the blessed influ- 
ences of the gospel, still the same antithesis must 
be observed — the reproach of his people wiped 
away, and Moab trodden down. The same con- 
trast may be observed the gospel throughout. 
He that believeth, saved, and he that believeth 
not, damned — the acceptable year, and the day 
of vengeance — saints happy, and sinners misera- 
ble. 

If it be considered as referring to a future state, 
still the same antithesis must be observed. Lan- 
guage somewhat resembling this is found in Rev. 
xxi. 4, " And God shall wipe away all tears from 
their eyes ; and there shall be no more death, 
neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be 
any more pain : for the former things are passed 
away." This language is strenuously applied, by 
Universalists, to all men. Yet we here find the 
same contrast to which we have referred. In a 
very few verses succeeding — after the righteous, 
whose happy state is so vividly portrayed, are per- 
manently lodged in heaven, — we read, " But," — 
O, to the wicked, that little word is a fearful one, 
— " but the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abo- 
minable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and 



UNlVERSALISTS, EXAMINED. 23 

sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars shall have 
their part in the lake which burnetii with fire and 
brimstone : which is the second death." 

Hosea xiii. 14, is quoted in defence of Univer- 
salism : " O death I will be thy plague ; O grave I 
will be thy destruction." These words are thought 
to prove " that the death that followed transgres- 
sion will not be eternal*" The Prophet refers to 
the resurrection, which is the work of Christ. 
Paul in his first epistle to the Corinthians has refe- 
rence to these words, when he says, " So when 
this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this 
mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall 
be brought to pass the saying that is written, 
Death is swallowed up in victory. O death where 
is thy sting ? O grave where is thy victory ?" 
The death, and grave, here alluded to, is the 
death, and the grave of the body. It is evident, 
after the resurrection takes place, that there will 
be no more corporeal death to any of the human 
family ; but we are expressly assured that C S some 
shall awake to shame and everlasting contempt." 
The resurrection, which will be a blessing to the 
righteous, will be a curse to the wicked. There 
is also another death from which believers alone 
will be delivered. It is mentioned in Rev. ii. 11, 
" He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the sec- 
ond death"; and in Rev. xx. 14, "And death 



24 SCRIPTURE ADDUCED BY 

and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is 
the second death. And whosoever was not found 
written in the book of life was cast into the lake 
of fire. " From this death there will be no resur- 
rection. 

Genesis xii. 3, is wrested in support of universal 
salvation. " In thee," that is, in Abraham, " shall 
all the families of the earth be blessed*" Much 
stress is laid upon this, and collateral passages. 
It is asked, " How can all the families of the 
earth be blessed in Abraham, as the progenitor of 
Christ, if all are not saved"? We answer first; 
it is a blessing to all the families of the earth to 
enjoy a day of probation; and all the blessings 
attendant upon that period come to us through 
Christ Jesus. Secondly : all that are saved, are 
are saved by Christ ; for " there is salvation in no 
other"; " there is none other name given under 
heaven among men, whereby we must be saved." 
Through faith in Christ, salvation is freely offered 
to all the families of the earth. Is not this to be 
blessed in him ? It is what the inspired writers 
call a blessing to all the families of the earth. 
And what, I ask, must be the consequence of an 
obstinate rejection of such a blessing ? 

Another passage deserving our attention is 
found in 1 Peter, hi. 18-20. " Being put to death 
in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit; by 



UNIVERSALISTS, EXAMINED. 25 

which also, he went and preached unto the spirits 
in prison ; which sometime were disobedient in 
the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing." 
By what are called Universal Restorationists, 
these words are thought to furnish an unanswera- 
ble argument in favor of their views of a limited 
punishment. The explanation which they give 
is, that Christ went and preached the gospel to 
those who were suffering the vengeance of God 
— that those who sinned in the days of Noah, 
were, until that time, kept in a state of durance 
and unhappiness, from which they were delivered 
by the preaching of Christ ; and consequently, 
they say, as all God's w r ays are equal, all others 
who die in their sins, will enjoy the same blessing. 
The same explanation is often given by Universal- 
ists, although it conflicts directly with the senti- 
ment that there is no future punishment. But 
Universalism is a perfect Proteus. Its ministers 
sometimes preach a limited punishment, or no 
punishment, as best suits the congregation which 
employs them. 

No such sentiment is taught in the passage un- 
der consideration, nor is any intimation given in 
scripture that the gospel is preached to men in a 
future state. The obvious meaning of the apostle 
is given in the paraphrase of Dr. Macknight ; — 

" being put to death in the flesh, but made alive 

3 



26 SCRIPTURE ADDUCED BY 

by the Spirit, as approved of God in dying for 
the sins of the world. By which Spirit also, 
speaking in Noah, he preached to the persons 
now in prison, who formerly were disobedient, 
when the patience of God, once for all, waited 
for their reformation in the days of Noah, during 
an hundred and twenty years, while an ark was 
preparing." 

The apostle does not say that Christ,^personal]y, 
went and preached to those who were at the time 
in a state of durance : but his words are, " By 
which," — which is a relative and refers to " Spi- 
rit" — " by which Spirit he went"; not into hell, 
but to the antediluvians while the ark was pre- 
paring, and preached to them, once for all, by the 
ministry of Noah. That this is his meaning is 
not only plain, from the phraseology of the text, 
but it is confirmed by Genesis vi. 3, which is 
written in relation to these very persons; " My 
Spirit shall not always strive with man." Hence 
also, Noah is called, "a preacher of righteous- 
ness." % By attributing the preaching of the an- 
cient prophets to Christ, the apostle has taught us 
that from the beginning, the economy of man's 
redemption, has been under the direction of 
Christ. Accordingly, the same apostle has ex- 
pressly affirmed that the Spirit which was in the 

* 2 Peter ii. 5. 



UNIVERSALISTS, EXAMINED. 27 

ancient prophets, was the Spirit of Christ. 
" Searching what, or what manner of time the 
Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify."* 
According to the Universaiist interpretation of the 
text under consideration, the solemn appeal of 
the apostle in a few succeeding verses, in the fol- 
lowing chapter, could be very readily replied to, 
as communicating no terrifying truth. " And if 
the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the 
ungodly and the sinner appear"? Such language 
never falls from the lips of a Universaiist. 

In support of the interpretation which XJniver- 
salists give to this passage, they adduce the sixth 
verse of the fourth chapter of this same epistle. 
"For this cause was the gospel preached to 
them that are dead, that they might be judged ac- 
cording to men in the flesh, but live according to 
God in the Spirit." Many commentators under- 
stand by the " dead" in this passage, the spiritual- 
ly dead. In confirmation of this sense they refer 
to the language of Jesus Christ, " The hour is 
coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the 
voice of the Son of God ; and they that hear shall 
live"; and also to the language of the Apostle 
Paul to the Ephesians, " You hath he quickened, 
who were dead in trespasses and sins." 

We, however, understand by the " dead," the 

* 1 Peter i. 2. 



28 SCRIPTURE ADDUCED BY 

same that is meant in the preceding verse, " Who 
shall give account to him that is ready to judge 
the quick and the dead." There is no good rea- 
son why we should understand the " dead" in 
one passage, in any different sense from what we 
understand it in the other. The apostle does not 
say that the gospel is preached to them that are 
dead, or that the gospel was preached to them 
that were dead. The words will not bear such a 
rendering, nor will the context justify it. A very 
slight paraphrase will make the sense of the apos- 
tle clear. " For this cause ivas the gospel preach- 
ed to them that are noio dead, that though they 
might be judged or censured according to men in 
the flesh they might live according to God in the 
Spirit." This interpretation agrees with the 
whole context. The gospel was preached to 
them that are now dead, but who lived before the 
advent of the Messiah, for the same reason that it 
is preached to men now ; — that they may learn 
to crucify the flesh ; for which, indeed, they will 
be condemned by the world ; and begin to live a 
holy, and spiritual life. 

" That they might be judged according to men 
in the flesh? '; these words as they stand in our 
common version are somewhat obscure, owing to 
an ellipsis which often occurs. By supplying 
though or although after "that," the sense is 



UNIVERSALISTS, EXAMINED. 29 

much more obvious. As they are, however, we 
need be at no loss for their meaning, if we consid- 
er that in the verse but one preceding, the apos- 
tle speaks of the wicked as condemning christians, 
because they " run not with them to the same ex- 
cess of riot"; and in the first verse he exhorts be- 
lievers to arm themselves with the mind of Christ, 
that they may cheerfully suffer in the flesh, and be 
thereby emancipated from the dominion of sin. 
By thus mortifying the flesh, and suffering in it, 
they shall live in the Spirit, and be approved of 
God : w For there is no condemnation to them 
who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the 
flesh but after the Spirit": and to be " spiritually 
minded is life and peace." In the words, " for 
this cause was the gospel preached to them that 
are dead," the apostle has reference to what he 
had said in the preceding chapter concerning the 
preaching of Christ to the antediluvians, through 
the ministry of Noah. Not the least hint is 
given, that the gospel was, or ever will be 
preached to men in a future state. Neither the 
grammar of the passages, nor their context ad- 
mits of such an idea. Did man's probation ex- 
tend into a future world, we should find the 
doctrine standing out as prominently on the in- 
spired pages, as we find the doctrine of a state of 
future retribution. 

3* 



30 SCRIPTURE ADDUCED BY 

What need, I would also ask, of preaching the 
gospel to men in a future world, when they have 
heard, and rejected it, for a whole life time in 
this ? The antediluvians who perished, had the 
same means of grace, and salvation, which Noah 
had who was saved. God has appointed, and 
put in operation, the most powerful and efficient 
means of salvation, and if they fail to convert 
men, all others would fail. Abraham said to the 
rich man, in reply to his importunity to send Laz- 
arus to his five brethren; " They have Moses 
and the prophets, let them hear them ; if they will 
not, neither will they be persuaded though one 
rose from the dead." 

There are two other passages upon which Uni- 
versal Restorationists rely to sustain their views 
of the final restoration of all men to holiness and 
happiness. The first is found in Jeremiah xlix. 
37-39. " And I will send the sword after Elam 
till I have consumed them. # # # % But it 
shall come to pass in the latter days that I will 
bring again the captivity of Elamsaith the Lord." 
The argument which they found upon these 
words is this: " If the nation of Elam and others 
which have long since been cut off from the earth 
are to be restored to happiness in a future state 
as must be the case," say they, " unless these ex- 
press promises of God fail of being accomplished, 



UNIVERSALISTS, EXAMINED. 31 

then there is good reason to believe in the resto- 
ration of all who have been, or shall be, destroy- 
ed by the judgments of God." Must not that be 
a bad cause, and its advocates sorely pressed, 
which needs resort to such a source for support ? 
Not a word is here said about a future state. The 
thought itself is ridiculous of a nation's captivity 
being restored in a futnre world. God deals with 
nations, as such, in this life. In the future world 
he deals with us as individuals : — " every man 
must give account of himself to God." When 
the territory of a nation which has been made de- 
solate is repeopled, its captivity is said to be resto- 
red. Elam was once a great nation. Chederla- 
omer, a distinguished man in his times, w T as the 
king of Elam. God, by his judgments, scattered 
the nation to the four winds. But when Cyrus 
destroyed Babylon, and brought the empire into 
the hands of the Persians, the Elamites returned 
in triumph out of all the countries whither they 
were scattered. Pliny, and Josephus, say that 
Persia was the country of the ancient Elamites, 
from whom the Persians derived their origin. 
Thus their captivity was returned. 

The other passage, to which we referred, is 
found in Ezekiel xvi. 53-55. Speaking of Jeru- 
salem, the prophet says: "When I shall bring 
again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and 



32 SCRIPTURE ADDUCED BV 

her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and 
her daughters ; then again will I bring the cap- 
tivity of thy captives in the midst of them, that 
thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest 
be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that 
thou art a comfort unto them. When thy sisters 
Sodom and her daughters shall return to their for- 
mer estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall 
return to their former estate, then thou and thy 
daughters shall return to your former estate." 

The whole chapter, as any one, with very little 
attention, may see, relates to what has taken, and 
shall take place in this world. Not the least refe- 
rence is had to a future state. The captivity of 
Jerusalem was returned when, after seventy years, 
the Jews returned from Babylon. Yet it was 
not the same people who were carried captive 
that returned. But very few of them survived. 
Grotius, and also many Jewish writers, maintain 
that the captives here spoken of, have all been re- 
turned. Others suppose that these promises will 
not be fulfilled till the gospel shall have free 
course and be glorified, all along that rich valley, 
among a thriving christian population. 

It seems as if no one would have ever dreamed 
that the Prophet here referred to a future state, 
but for the want of something, in the shape of an 
argument, to sustain a visionary theory. The re- 



UNIVERSALISTS, EXAMINED. 33 

turn of their captivities, it will be observed, was 
to be , " to their former estate." That estate was 
not a holy, and heavenly estate. It is a bad cause 
that has need of bad arguments to support it. 

He who builds his hope of heaven upon such a 
doctrine, is "like a man who without a founda- 
tion, built a house upon the earth, against which 
the stream did beat vehemently, and it fell ; and 
the ruin of that house was great. "• "What high 
hopes will be ruined ! What a precious soul will 
be wrecked ! What eternal interests will be de- 
stroyed ! May God give us wisdom to dig deep, 
and lay our foundation upon a rock. 

* John vi. 49. 



LECTURE II. 



PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE, ADDUCED BY UNIVERSALISTS 
IN SUPPORT OF THE DOCTRINE OF UNIVERSAL SALVA- 
TION, EXAMINED. 



2. Peter, iii. 15, 16. And account that the iong-suffering of our 
Lord is salvation ; even as our beloved brother JPaul also, according to 
the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you ; 

As also in all his epistles speaking in them of these things ; in which 
are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned 
and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their 
own destruction. 

The obtaining of a correct knowledge of the 
meaning of the holy Scriptures, is an important 
means of salvation. We cannot change the truth 
of God by affixing to them a sense not communi- 
cated by the Spirit. The sincere belief that all 
men will be saved, will not procure to any one, 
the sentence of acquittal at the last day. We 
have so often heard language implying this senti- 
ment, that we cannot doubt that many are delud- 
ed by this strange and dangerous fallacy. The 



36 SCRIPTURE ADDUCED BY 

sincere belief of Universalism is, as we shall show 
in the course of our lectures, the sincere disbelief 
of the truth : and "he that belie veth not shall be 
damned." When Moses prophesied a very des- 
tructive hail throughout the land of Egypt, many 
of the servants of Pharaoh sincerely believed there 
would be no hail, or that it would fall harmlessly 
upon man and beast ; but their sincere belief did 
not protect them. All that were left in the field 
perished. Wresting the Scriptures to make them 
speak a language agreeable to our feelings, will 
save none, but destroy many. 

We proceed to show that Universalists wrest 
the Scriptures to their own destruction. 

In prosecuting this subject, we shall continue 
our examination of some of the strongest passages 
adduced by them in support of their system* 

The first passage to which we direct your at- 
tention, is found in John xii. 32. " And I, if I be 
lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto 
me." These words are regarded as a proof that 
all men will be converted, and saved. 

You will please to observe, that Christ is not 
here speaking of ascending to heaven, and draw- 
ing all men to him there. The Evangelist, in the 
next verse, says, " This he said, signifying what 
death he should die." 

We have here an instance of universal terms 



UNIVERSALISTS, EXAMINED. 37 

being employed to express a great number. "When 
the sacred writers would express a fact, which is 
true of a vast number of men, though not of every 
individual, they make use, in most or many in- 
stances, of such terms. A few examples will il- 
lustrate this. " Take ye heed every one of his 
neighbor, and trust ye not in any brother, for 
every brother will utterly supplant, and every 
neighbor will walk with slanders. " # Who sup- 
poses that this passage was applicable to all men, 
even at the time in which the Prophet WTote ? 
" And it came to pass in those days, that there 
went out a decree from Csesar Augustus that all 
the world should be taxed."! You do not need 
to be informed that the dominions of Augustus 
did not extend over all the world. " The Phari- 
sees therefore said among themselves, Perceive 
ye not how ye prevail nothing ? Behold the 
tvorlcl is gone after him."$ It is well known 
that there never was a period during the ministry 
of Christ, in which every individual of the world, 
in a strict, literal sense, went after him. No one 
is disposed to understand the words in this sense. 
But the terms may be understood in an unlimited 
sense, in the one passage, as well as in the other. 
The sense of the passage is clearly expressed in 
the paraphrase of Dr. Doddridge. " And when 

* Jer. is. 4. f Luke xii. 1. J John xii. 19. 



38 SCRIPTURE ADDUCED BY 

I am lifted up from the earth, though I may seem 
thereby to be made the trophy of mine enemies, 
yet such shall be the effect of that important 
event, that I shall draw all men unto me ; that is, 
I shall lay a foundation for conquering the most 
stubborn hearts, by so rich a display of my love ; 
and shall by a secret but powerful influence upon 
their minds, persuade multitudes of all ranks and 
all nations to list themselves under the banner I 
raise." 

The text is explained, if any explanation is ne- 
cessary, by a collateral passage in John hi. 14, 15, 
in which the saving benefit of Christ's death is re- 
stricted to believers. " As Moses lifted up the 
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son 
of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in 
him should not perish, but have everlasting life." 
All men are not drawn to Christ as the foundation 
of their hopes : many never turn a weeping eye up 
to him whom they have pierced : but on the other 
hand, " Christ crucified" is to many besides " the 
Jews, a stumbling block," and to many besides 
" the Greeks, foolishness." 

Another passage, often quoted in support of the 
doctrine of universal salvation, is found in 1 Cor. 
xv. 22. " For as in Adam all die, even so in 
Christ shall all be made alive." This seems to 
be regarded as a corner stone in that refuge of 



UNIVERSALISTS, EXAMINED. 39 



lies, which is destined to bury all who resort to it 
in everlasting ruin. 

Let us examine the passage. The apostle, 
throughout the chapter, is speaking of the resur- 
rection. In the text not the least reference is had 
to spiritual life, or to spiritual death. Even Uni- 
versalists themselves will not pretend that all men 
are now made spiritually alive. " If any man be 
in Christ he is a new creature." Such a change 
has not passed upon all men. The death and 
resurrection of the body is the theme of the text, 
and context. In the verse preceding, he says, 
" For since by man came death, by man came al- 
so the resurrection from the dead. For as in Ad- 
am all die, even so in Christ shall all be made 
alive," In the very next verse succeeding, as if 
the apostle were aware that his words would be 
wrested, he places an effectual guard upon them. 
" But every man," says he, "in his own order; 
Christ the first fruits ; afterwards they that are 
Christ's at his coming." Who that is not " blind- 
ed by the god of this world," can suppose the 
apostle in these words to teach the doctrine of 
universal salvation ? " Every man in his own or- 
der,' 3 or band, as the words should be rendered; 
for (ray^a) tagma signifies a band of soldiers, 
Tag/s (taxis) is the more properly rendered order, 
Believers are often spoken of as soldiers, and so 



40 SCRIPTURE ADDUCED BY 

also are unbelievers, though they serve under dif- 
ferent masters. " Michael and his angels fought 
against the dragon ; and the dragon fought and 
his angels. " # " These shall make war with the 
Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for he 
is Lord of lords and King of kings : and they that 
are with him are called and chosen and faithful."! 
These legions shall come out of their graves sepa- 
rately, each member in his own proper band, as 
they have battled with Christ, or against him. 
That all will not be raised to the same state of 
holiness, and happiness, is most clearly indicated 
by the expression, " they that are Christ's " All 
are not his. To many who have professed to be 
his, in that day, he will say, " I never knew you ; 
depart from me." 

The same thoughts are very clearly stated by 
the apostle in 1 Thes. iv. 16, 17. — " The dead in 
Christ shall rise first : then we which are alive 
and remain, shall be caught up together with them 
in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air ; and so 
shall ever be with the Lord." Then in two verses 
succeeding he says, " Yourselves know perfectly 
that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in 
the night. For when they shall say peace and 
safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon 
them." Could we ask to be more plainly assur* 

# Rev. xvii. 14. f Rev. xii. 7. 



UNIVERSALISTS, EXAMINED. 41 

ed than we here are, that in the morning of the 
resurrection, the human family will be separated 
into two classes, the one happy, and the other 
miserable ? 

Before we pass on, let us glance at the 24th, 
25th, 26th verses of this chapter. " Then cometh 
the end when he shall have delivered up the king- 
dom to God, even the Father, when he shall have 
put down all rule and all authority and power. 
For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under 
his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed 
is death." It is said that " Christ's putting all 
enemies under his feet, and destroying death, sig- 
nifies the conversion of all men, and the annihila- 
tion of misery." Putting one's enemies under 
his feet is a singular method of expressing willing 
subjection ; as in the case of a sinner's conversion. 
To express such subjection very different language 
is employed, as you will find by turning to the 
ex. Psalm, to which the apostle alludes in these 
words — u The Lord said unto mv Lord, Sit thou 
at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy 
footstool." This expresses the unwilling subjec- 
tion, and destruction of his enemies. "The Lord 
shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion : rule 
thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people 
shall be willing in the day of thy power." Such 
is the subjection of a truly converted person : 



42 SCRIPTURE ADDUCED BY 

Christ does not put him under his feet, but he will 
confess him before his Father, and exalt him to 
sit with him on his throne. 

In ancient times conquerors put their feet upon 
the necks of their enemies, in token of their tri- 
umph, as you will see by turning to Joshua x. 23, 
24. We might as reasonably conclude that those 
kings upon whose necks the Israelites placed their 
feet became their allies, or an integral part of 
the Jewish nation, as from this passage, to con- 
clude that all Christ's enemies will be converted, 
and become his friends. Those kings Joshua de- 
stroyed ; and when Christ shall put an end to all 
rule, and all authority, and power that opposes his 
own ; when he shall put an end to the liberty and 
power of his enemies, and bid them away from 
him into everlasting destruction, then we think, he 
will put all enemies under his feet. So far is the 
apostle, from here intimating the final salvation 
of all men, that his words furnish an unanswera- 
ble argument against such a position. They un- 
equivocally express the utter annihilation of all 
the hopes and joys of the wicked at the resurrec- 
tion. The change from " corruptible to incor- 
ruption, and from mortal to immortality," does 
not signify a change of moral character, and for 
any one to suppose that it does, shows an aston- 
ishing ignorance of the use of language, and of 



UNIVERSALISTS, EXAMINED. 43 

the whole testimony of scripture in relation to the 
subject. It means simply such a change wrought 
upon the body that it shall die no more. 

Paul's plain, as well as his hard sayings, are 
often wrested in support of the dogma of univer- 
sal salvation. For this purpose, Rom. v. 17, 18, 
19, is often quoted ; " For if by one man's offence 
death reigned by one ; much more they which re- 
ceive abundance of grace and the gift of righteous- 
ness, shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. 
Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came 
upon all men to condemnation ; even so by the 
righteousness of Christ, the free gift came upon 
all men to justification of life. For as by one 
man's disobedience many were made sinners, so 
by the obedience of one shall many be made 
righteous." That these words yield no support 
to the position of Universalists, must be obvious 
to every one who considers : 

1. That those who are said to " reign in life by 
Jesus Christ," are expressly said to be those who 
" receive abundance of grace," (many altogether 
" fail of the grace of God,"*) and of " the gift of 
righteousness." The righteousness that justifies, 
Paul expressly affirms, is received by believers 
only. It is " the righteousness of God which is by 

*Heb. xii. 15. 



44 SCRIPTURE ADDUCED BY 

faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all them 
that believe. "* 

2. The " free gift to justification of life" which 
has " come upon all men," is the free gift of a 
period of probation, and the proclamation of mer- 
cy, and salvation through Jesus Christ to the 
penitent. Death was introduced into the world 
by the sin of Adam, and this death would have 
reigned over all, but for the atoning sacrifice of 
Christ, by virtue of which, natural life is continu- 
ed to our race, and mercy is offered to all men. 

3. The apostle is here drawing a parallel be- 
tween the first and second Adam ; and as we are 
not condemned to future punishment, on account 
of Adam's sin, unless we make it our own by 
walking in his steps, so we are not saved by 
Christ's righteousness, unless we make it our own 
by faith. 

4. In a word ; as by Adam's offence, we were 
all cut off from any access to the tree of life, so 
by Christ's righteousness the way to the tree of 
life is made accessible to all. Such are the prin- 
cipal thoughts which the words suggest. Every 
argument that can be fairly deduced from them, 
is an argument against the system we are examin- 
ing. That they resort to such passages for sup- 
port, shows the blinding influence of Universal- 

* Rom. iii. 22. 



UNIVERSALISTS, EXAMINED. 45 

ism, and must, to every sober mind, afford con- 
vincing evidence that the whole structure is built 
upon the sand. 

We will now turn to Rom. xi. 32. " For God 
hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he 
might have mercy upon all." The apostle in this 
chapter is discoursing upon the rejection of the 
Jews, as the visible church, and peculiarly favor- 
ed people of God, and upon the ultimate spread 
and influence of the gospel among them, as well 
as among the Gentiles. He hath concluded them 
all, that is, Jews as well as Gentiles, in unbelief, 
to the intent that the free offer of salvation through 
Jesus Christ in the gospel, might be made to all. 
Not the least hint is given in the passage or the 
context that it is God's purpose to save the whole 
human family. Both in the context, and also in 
Galations hi. 22, where nearly the same phraseol- 
ogy is used, the promise of salvation is expressly 
restricted to those alone who believe. — " But the 
scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the 
promise by faith of Jesus Christ, might be given 
to them that believe" 

Dr. Chauncey, an eminent Universalist writer, 
adduces in proof of the final salvation of all men, 
Ephesians i. 10, " That in the dispensation of 
the fullness of times, he might gather together in 
one, all things in Christ, both which are in heav- 



46 SCRIPTURE ADDUCED BY 

en and which are on earth : even in him." It is 
evident, as every attentive reader must see, that 
the inspired penman is not here speaking of all 
the beings in heaven and on earth, but of all be- 
ings that are in Christ — all that are " chosen in 
him," and " predestinated to the adoption of 
children." His meaning is not, that all things 
shall be collected together in Christ, but that he 
shall unite in one body all things that belong to 
him, both which are in heaven and on earth — 
" that he might gather together in one all things 
in Christ." Of this final " gathering together" 
we have an account in Matthew xxv. 32. "And 
before him shall be gathered all nations ; and he 
shall separate them one from another, as a shep- 
herd divideth his sheep from the goats. And he 
shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats 
on the left. Then shall the King say to them on 
his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, in- 
herit the kingdom prepared for you from the foun- 
dation of the world." Thus it is, that " in the 
fullness of times," "all things in Christ," shall 
be united in one body. All the redeemed from 
among men shall be associated in one body with 
the angels in heaven. 

As an argument against the doctrine of end- 
less punishment, Universalists aver that " no soul 
can sustain endless torments." As a proof of this 



UNIVERSALISTS, EXAMINED. 47 

position they bring forward Isaiah lvii. 16. " For 
I will not contend forever, neither will I be al- 
ways wroth : for the spirit should fail before me 
and the souls which I have made." It should be 
observed that these words are spoken in reference 
to the humble and contrite. The verse preced- 
ing reads, " For thus saith the high and lofty 
One, that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Ho- 
ly; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him 
also that is of a humble and contrite spirit, to re- 
vive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the 
heart of the contrite ones"; "for," says he, "I 
will not contend forever, neither will I be always 
wroth : for the spirit should fail before me, and 
the souls which I have made." In this world 
God does not contend with any unceasingly; 
much less with those who turn to him with bro- 
kenness of spirit. His people had erred ; he had 
visited them with judgments, and sent them into 
captivity, and now that they confessed their sin, 
and humbled themselves before him, he promised 
to leave contending with them and to restore com- 
fort to the mourners. But it is immediately added 
in the twentieth verse, — " The wicked are like the 
troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters 
cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace saith 
my God to the wicked." You perceive then that 
the words we are considering relate to the peni- 



48 SCRIPTURE ADDUCED BY 

tent, and especially to their condition in this life* 
The terms " forever," " always," and " ever- 
lasting," are generally to be understood accord- 
ing to the economy, or period to which they re- 
late. When they are spoken in relation to this 
life, they mean as long as this life continues ; and 
when they are spoken in relation to a future life, 
they mean as long as that life continues, which is 
unending. The obvious sense of the passage 
then is, that God will notj always, through life, 
contend with the broken hearted, for they would 
sink in utter despondency. 

The averment that " no soul could sustain end- 
less suffering," supposes that the wicked are not 
dependent on God to sustain their existence ; for 
if God sustains their existence it is a blasphemous 
limiting of his power, to say that they cannot be 
sustained in that state to which he will sentence 
them. The punishment of the wicked will be 
proportioned to their powers of endurance ; or, 
their powers of endurance will be proportioned to 
their punishment. 

We pass to examine a passage found in Matt, 
xxii. 30, which is supposed to furnish a strong ar- 
gument in favor of Universalism. The passage 
reads as follows : " In the resurrection they nei- 
ther marry nor are given in marriage, but are as 
the angels of God in heaven." 



UNIVERSALISTS, EXAMINED. 49 

Allow us to drop an observation here on the 
importance of comparing scripture with scripture. 
A single passage, like the one before us, may be 
concise, the truth it contains may be so briefly 
stated as to be without those qualifications which 
are generally to be looked for in the context, or 
in other portions of the Bible treating of the same 
subject. In order, then, to arrive at the truth, we 
must examine collateral passages, and see what is 
said on the same subject elsewhere. All scrip, 
ture is best illustrated by scripture ; and it ought 
to satisfy us if a subject is but once explained, 
and the bounds of its extent measured. Matthew 
gives the words of our Saviour, upon this occa- 
sion, in the most concise manner; and Mark re- 
cords them in nearly the same words. 

The argument deduced from this passage by 
Universalists is this, — All men are to be raised 
from the dead ; all that are raised are to be as 
the angels ; therefore all men will be finally holy 
and happy. But the wicked may be like the an- 
gels in some respects, as to their physical and in- 
tellectual powers, and social relations, and yet 
not be holy and happy as the angels of God in 
heaven. Kings and monarchs are called gods in 
the Psalms of David, but would any man be justi- 
fied in concluding from hence, that all kings and 
monarchs are holy and happy like God ? 

5 



50 SCRIPTURE ADDUCED BY 

Let us now turn to the passage as recorded by 
Luke xx. 34, 35, 36, in which the whole subject 
is qualified and restricted. " And Jesus answer- 
ing said unto them, The children of this world 
marry and are given in marriage : but they which 
shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, 
and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry 
nor are given in marriage , neither can they die 
any more : for they are equal unto the angels, and 
are the children of God, being the children of the 
resurrection." 

It is evident that our Lord, in this reply to the 
question of the Sadducees, speaks of the resurrec- 
tion of the saints. This is plain, from the expres- 
sion — " they which shall be accounted worthy to 
obtain that world," that is, that blessed world — 
the heavenly world. The terms " resurrection 
from the dead," are here employed in the highest 
and best sense. Allusion is had to the " better 
resurrection" spoken of in Heb. xi. Z5- — " that 
they might obtain a better resurrection." Resur- 
rection from the dead, means the " resurrection 
to life," in contradistinction from the " resurrec- 
tion to damnation"; for though the wicked will 
be raised from their graves, their resurrection will 
be, not from death, but to all the horrors of the 
second death. The terms are used in the same 
sense in which the words, " everlasting life," are 



UNIVERSALISTS, EXAMINED. 51 

often used ; for example, in Luke xviii. 29, 30 — 
u There is no man that hath left house, or parents, 
or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom 
of God's sake, who shall not receive manifold 
more in this present time, and in the world to 
come life everlasting" The wicked will live 
forever in the world to come, yet their existence 
will not be everlasting life, in the best sense. The 
sense which we have here given to the words, is 
confirmed by numerous passages of scripture. 
"We will refer to two only, John x. 25. " Jesus 
said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life : 
he that believeth in me though he were dead, yet 
ghall he live." Live ! How shall he live ? All 
men, whether they believe or not will exist? — 
"Why, most obviously, he shall live, in the sense 
which we have given to the terms " everlasting 
life," and " resurrection from the dead." Again, 
John iii. 36. " He that believeth not the Son 
shall not see life" The wicked will exist, but 
their existence is no where, that we remember, 
called life. This term when spoken, with em- 
phasis, in relation to a future state, signifies a high 
state of enjoyment. Hence we read of the " wa- 
ter of life," of "the tree of life," and of the 
saints " entering into life." 

That, although every individual of the human 
family will come forth from their graves, every 



52 SCRIPTURE ADDUCED BY 

individual is not intended in this passage^ is clear 
from the antithesis observed in the expression — 
" they which shall be counted worthy." If all 
men were intended, there would be no sense in 
such language ; for it plainly implies that some 
shall not be counted worthy. They who obtain 
" that world," and " the resurrection from the 
dead," are also said to be the children of God. 
There is not an instance in scripture in which the 
wicked are so called : they are designated by the 
terms " children of the flesh," " children of dark- 
ness," and " children of the devil." 

The same Divine Person, who uttered the 
words we are examining, has settled the question 
as to the final happiness of all men at the res- 
urrection, in John v. 28, 29. " Marvel not at 
this, for the hour is coming in which all that are 
in their graves shall come forth ; they that have 
done good unto the resurrection of life, and 
they that have done evil unto the resurrection of 



DAMNATION." 



Let us now take a cursory view of a passage 
found in Prov. xi. 31. " Behold the righteous 
shall be recompensed in the earth ; much more 
the wicked and the sinner." This is a favorite 
text with Universalists, to prove that the wicked 
receive all their punishment in this life. As we 
propose to disprove this position in a separate lee- 



UNIVEKSAUSTS, EXAMINED. 53 

ture, we need say only a word in this place. Eve- 
ry one will readily perceive that an argument 
which proves too much, proves nothing at all. 
If this passage, as Universalists suppose, makes a 
final disposition of hell, it makes also a final dis- 
position of heaven. If the recompense of the 
sinner on the earth is to be all his punishment, 
then the recompense of the righteous here is to be 
all their reward. It were easy from this passage 
to construct an argument against the doctrine of 
universal salvation. 

But we will pass on to give a moment's atten- 
tion to 1 John iv. 14. " And we have seen and 
do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the 
Saviour of the ivorld" We have before noticed 
several passages of this class, but as so much reli- 
ance is placed on this in particular, we will offer 
a word or two more of explanation. 

Jesus Christ is the " Saviour of the world," be- 
cause he has made ample provision for the salva- 
tion of the world, and freely offers it to all men, 
on condition of repentance toward God, and faith 
in the Lord Jesus Christ. That some men will 
perish, is not because they can not be saved, but 
because they will not " break off their sins by 
righteousness, and their iniquities by turning to 
the Lord." 

This may be illustrated by what God did for 
5* 



54 SCRIPTURE ADDUCED BY 

those Israelites, who came with Moses out of 
Egypt, and perished in the wilderness. God 
made every preparation on his part for them to 
go in and possess the land of Canaan, yet through 
unbelief, multitudes of them perished, and " their 
carcasses fell in the wilderness." 

Again ; when the Chaldean army came to be- 
siege Jerusalem in the days of Zedekiah, king of 
Judah, the prophet Jeremiah was sent to his peo- 
ple with this message : " Behold I set before you 
the way of life and the way of death. He that 
abideth in the city shall die by the sword, by the 
famine, and by the pestilence : but he that goeth 
out and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, 
he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a 
prey." In this most trying moment, the Lord 
made ample provision for every man to save his 
life; yet thousands of them perished. 

Under these terrible judgments of heaven the 
Jews complained, and said, u The way of the 
Lord is not equal." But God proved his way to 
be equal, by making provision for every man to 
save his life, by entreating them to turn and live, 
and finally, by saving the righteous and destroy- 
ing the wicked. 

It becomes Universalists to inquire candidly, 
whether they do not call the way of the Lord un- 
equal. One material argument of theirs is, that 



UNIVERSALISTS, EXAMINED. 55 

endless punishment is inconsistent with the divine 
goodness and compassion, for this plain reason, 
that " God has no pleasure in the death of the 
wicked." Was it inconsistent or unequal for 
God to destroy those perverse, and obstinate Jews, 
with the sword of the Chaldeans, when he had no 
pleasure in their death ? The fact that he did 
destroy them, and that he had no pleasure in their 
death, can neither of them be disputed. 

We need say no more to prove that, although 
Jesus Christ is the " Saviour of the world," it 
does not follow, that all men will finally be saved, 
any more than it follows, from the fact that am- 
ple provision was made for all the Jews that came 
out of Egypt with Moses to enter into the land of 
Canaan, that therefore all did enter in : nor any 
more than it follows, from the fact that because 
ample provision was made for every man to save 
his life from the besieging army of the Chaldeans, 
that therefore every man was saved. We are as- 
sured to the contrary. 

Another passage often quoted, to prove the doc- 
trine of universal salvation, is found in 1 Timo- 
thy iv. 10. " For therefore we both labor, and 
suffer reproach, because we trust in the living 
God who is the Saviour of all men, especially of 
those that believe." From these words it is in- 
ferred that all men will finally be saved, and be- 



56 SCRIPTURE ADDUCED BY 

lievers especially, because they now enter into the 
joys of salvation. Such a sense however, the lan- 
guage of the text will not bear.. We have just 
explained the sense, in which God is the Saviour 
of all men. He also suffers long with all men, 
and gives them time and opportunity to repent, 
and to turn from their sins and be saved. " The 
long-suffering of God is salvation." But believ- 
ers especially are made partakers of the final sal- 
vation from the second death. The words " es- 
pecially those that believe" clearly indicate that 
there is a sense in which God is not the Saviour of 
all men. It becomes every man to inquire what 
this sense is. It is not difficult to ascertain it. It 
stands out upon the inspired page, as plain as lan- 
guage can make it. 

We have brought forward^ this passage, more 
particularly, for the purpose of noticing a circum- 
stance connected with it. When we say, that 
the belief of Universalism is a disbelief of the 
truth, and that it is the open road to destruction, 
we are asked in tones of surprise and confidence, 
if " suffering reproach for trusting in the living 
God can be the path to ruin"? Wait a moment, 
my friend, before you " lay this flattering unction 
to your soul." A father tells his son that if he 
neglects to do what is bidden, he must severely 
punish him. The son does not believe a word 



UNIVERSALISTS, EXAMINED. 57 

his father says. Is this trusting in his father ? A 
sovereign proclaims that if any are found giving 
assistance to the enemy with whom he is at war, 
they shall be punished with death. A company 
of men believe he is too kind and merciful to put 
any man to death, and give assistance to the ene- 
my. Do they trust in him ? Then do those trust 
in God who believe in the dogma, that all men will 
be saved. 

The last passage, to which we shall now call 
your attention, is found in the Acts of the Apos- 
tles, iii. 20, 21. " And he shall send Jesus Christ, 
which before was preached unto you, whom the 
heavens must receive, until the times of the resti- 
tution of all things, which God hath spoken by 
the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world 
began." Can any thing be seen in these words, 
that looks like the doctrine of universal salvation ? 
Yet. how often are they wrested to subserve this 
end ? That the passage affords no support to 
this soul-destroying system is evident from the 
fact, that not one of " all the holy prophets since 
the world began" has taught it. That the apostle 
may even seem to have reference to the final sal- 
vation of all men, by the terms " restitution of all 
things," it must first be shown that " God by the 
mouth of all the holy prophets since the world be- 
gan has spoken it." But we might safely chal- 



58 SCRIPTURE ADDUCED BY 

lenge any man, to find a word in all the holy 
prophets, which, by a fair construction, may even 
seem to favor the idea. In the very next verse 
an announcement of the prophet Moses is record- 
ed, in which he distinctly states the final destruc- 
tion of the wicked ; " For Moses truly said unto 
the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God 
raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me ; 
him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall 
say unto you. And it shall come to pass that 
every soul which will not hear that Prophet shall 
he destroyed from among the people." 

Whence is it to be learned that by " the resti- 
tution of all things," we are to understand the fi- 
nal restoration of all men to a state of holiness 
and happiness ? The scriptures no where give 
any intimation that the terms are to be understood 
in this sense. The expression itself conveys no 
such idea. Allowing that to be the meaning of 
the words, then all men were restored to holiness 
and happiness by the prophetic Elias, that is John 
the Baptist. In Matt, xvji. 11, we find the same 
terms employed in the original Greek with refe- 
rence to his mission, and the restitution there spo- 
ken of was to be consummated before Christ of- 
fered up himself. " And Jesus answered and 
said unto them, Elias truly shall first come and, 
atfoxctraforKfsi tfavra, restore all things. But I say 



UNIVERSALISTS, EXAMINED. 59 

unto you that Elias is come already, and they 
have done unto him whatsoever they listed." In 
the words we are considering the expression is 
the same — " until the times of, atfexcwafltojtfswtf #av- 
twv, the restitution of all things." Now if these 
words, "the restitution of all things," means that 
all men shall be restored to holiness and happi- 
ness in the Acts of the Apostles, they must mean 
the same thing in Matthew, for precisely the same 
words are used. But no one will pretend that 
that is their meaning in Matthew, because facts 
prove to the contrary. Why then should it be 
presumed, that this is their meaning in the Acts 
of the Apostles ? Is it not, because there is some 
obscurity in the terms, and convenient means are 
afforded to impose upon the ignorance of the cre- 
dulous ? 

The word rendered " restitution" should be ren- 
dered " prepare," or "set in order." That is ob- 
viously its meaning* John says of himself, " I 
am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, — 
Prepare ye the way of the Lord." Dr. Campbell 
renders the term " accomplishment," which con- 
veys the same sense we have given to it. " Un- 
til the times of the accomplishment of all things, 
which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his 
holy prophets." Thus rendered, the meaning of 
the inspired penman is plain, and the obvious 



60 SCRIPTURE ADDUCED BY 

sense of the term is given. If you adhere, howev- 
er, to our translation of the term, no countenance 
is given to the doctrine of universal salvation, for 
the reasons we have already given. 

We have now finished our examination of those 
passages of scripture which Universalists adduce 
in support of their system. We have noticed 
every passage of any moment, but not the sha- 
dow of any evidence do we find in support of 
their doctrine. We are constrained to say that 
the whole system is " a refuge of lies." We 
hope we shall not be thought to possess any un- 
kind feelings towards Universalists themselves. 
We readily acknowledge that many of them are 
men of respectable standing in society. It is 
against the system, and not the men, that we 
speak. Whether wittingly or no, they however 
who resort to it for consolation and hope, " make 
lies their refuge." The founder of it is " the fa- 
ther of lies." But the hail shall sweep it away, 
and every soul found in it will perish. 

There is one covert from the storm. This we 
purpose to keep steadily in view ; and we beseech 
you to avail yourselves of the opportunity of flee- 
ing thither. Many have there taken refuge, and 
yet there is room. It is a munition of rocks, and 
the gates of hell can never prevail against it. 
Haste thither. Tarry not, lest thou be consumed. 



UNIVERSALISTSj EXAMINED. 61 

There you shall be safe, and not a fear or doubt 
shall trouble you. Why will you cleave to a re- 
fuge, which if it fail you, — and it will fail you — 
will be destruction without remedy ? 



6 



LECTURE III. 



DOCTRINE OF ENDLESS PUNISHMENT ACCORDING TO THE 
LAW AND THE TESTIMONY. 



Isaiah viii. 20. To the law and to the testimony : if they speak not 
according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. 

In these words the Prophet gives us a criterion 
by which to judge of those who profess to be the 
ministers of God. They are not so, if they speak 
not according to the law and to the testimony. 
Faithful ministers preach not their own fancies ; 
they echo forth the word of the Lord. The Bible 
is their book of instructions, according to which, 
<J as ambassadors for Christ," they are to negotiate 
a peace between men and God. Therein is con- 
tained " the word of reconciliation" committed 
to them. If they speak not according to it, it is 
because there is no light in them ; they are but 
" blind leaders of the blind, and both will fall into 
the ditch." No sentiment that is not plainly built 



64 SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. 

upon this strong foundation, will stand the test of 
a final judgment. 

The doctrine which we hear and believe will 
have a most powerful influence in forming our 
characters for eternity, and fit us for a world of 
peace, or a world of woe. The business of the 
soul and of eternity, is of too serious a nature to be 
trifled with. It will not ease the gnawings of the 
undying worm, and the pains of the unquenchable 
fire, that we were taught to believe, and actually 
did believe, that there was no place of future pun- 
ishment. 

We have shown in the two preceding lectures, 
that those who teach the doctrine of universal sal- 
vation, wrest the scriptures to the destruction of 
souls. Such are evidently referred to in 2 Peter 
ii. 1, 2. u There were false prophets also among 
the people, even as there shall be false teachers 
among you, who privily shall bring in damnable 
heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, 
and bring upon themselves swift destruction, and 
many shall follow their pernicious ways, by reason 
of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of." 
That Universalism is a damnable heresy, that it 
denies the Lord that bought us, that its ways are 
pernicious, and that its end is destruction, we hope 
to make plain in our subsequent discussions. 
Many amiable people are led astray by it ; some 



SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. 65 

of them we know and love. But we cannot spare 
their errors ; ice dare not do it. It is at the peril 
of our own souls if we refuse to give them warn- 
ing of the approaching danger. 

"We now proceed to show that the doctrine, 
that some of the human family will suffer endless 
punishment, is a doctrine according to the law and 
the testimony. 

To this end we shall, in this lecture, call your 
attention to several portions of scripture, which by 
a fair inference, prove the doctrine, but which are 
not so direct and positive, as those which we shall 
hereafter notice. They belong to a class of texts 
found on almost every page of scripture, and 
which indeed, if we had no others, would abun- 
dantly establish the doctrine. 

The first passage to which we will refer is found 
in Psalms ix. 17. u The wicked shall be turned 
into hell and all the nations that forget God." It 
is contended by Universalists, that the Hebrew 
word iissQ) sheol, here rendered hell, ought, in 
all cases, to be rendered grave. On account of 
the influence upon some minds of their construc- 
tion of this term and its corresponding word a8r\<f 9 
hades, in the Greek, allow me to offer a few brief 
remarks. 

Sheol is invariably rendered hades, by the trans- 
lators of the Septuagint. These words are ren- 

6* 



66 SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. 

dered in our English translation, in some places 
hell, in others the grave. We are free to admit, 
as indeed every scholar must, that in very many 
instances, the word, grave, would convey the 
meaning of the original better than any other sin- 
gle word in the English language. The general 
sense could not have been better arrived at, ex- 
cept by a circumlocution. The Latins, however, 
are more fortunate in their translation than we, — 
they having a word which is equivalent to the 
Hebrew, and the Greek. The following passage, 
11 Then shall ye bring down my grey hairs, with 
sorrow to the grave," reads, " Deducetis canos 
meos cum dolor e ad inferos." 

It will be perceived that we are of the opinion 
that sheol means somewhat more than the grave. 
This is a point generally, if not universally, con- 
ceded by scholars at the present day. The prin- 
cipal arguments are as follows, 1st. Sheol, or 
Hades, is never used in a plural sense, but always 
in the singular. 2d. When the grave or sepul- 
chre is spoken of ""©p keber is the word used, 
which is used both in the singular and plural. 3d. 
Keber is never rendered in the Septuagint hades, 
but <rapos taphos, jxv^a mnama, or some equivalent 
term. Sheol, on the contrary, is never rendered 
taphos or mnama, but always hades. 4th. Where 
the disposal of the body or corpse is spoken of by 



SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. 67 

the Greeks, taphos, or some equivalent term, is 
the name of its repository ; but, on the other 
hand, when mention is made of the spirit after 
death, its abode is hades, 5th. Among the He- 
brews, when mention w r as made of mourning at a 
sepulchre, erecting a pillar, or monument upon it, 
keber is the word employed, and never hades. 
6th. In sheol or hades, all the dead are represent- 
ed as being present, without exception; just as 
we speak of all the dead being in the invisible 
world. This, when we consider that the words 
are always used in a singular sense, carries 
with it much weight. 7th. We notice again, that, 
as is observed by Castalio, those are represented 
as being in sheol, whose bodies were denied the 
honors of a sepulchre* This last is an incontro- 
vertible argument that sheol signifies somewhat^ 
more than a grave. Both terms seem to mean 
generally, what we mean by the terms invisible 
world. 

That excellent Greek and Hebrew scholar, Dr. 
Edward Robinson, observes that, " According to 
the notions of the Hebrews, hades was a vast sub- 
terranean receptacle, where the souls of the dead 
existed in a separate state, until the resurrection 
of their bodies. The region of the blessed, during 
this interval, or the inferior Paradise, they suppos- 
ed to be in the upper part of this receptacle, 



68 SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. 

while beneath was the abyss, or Gehenna, Tarta- 
rus, in which the souls of the wicked were subject- 
ed to punishment."* 

In perfect accordance with this idea is the pas- 
sage in Psalms xvi. 10, and quoted in Acts ii. 27. 
" Men and brethren let me freely speak to you of 
the patriarch David, that he is both dead and bu- 
ried, and his sepulchre (mnama) is with us unto 
this day. Therefore being a prophet and know- 
ing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that 
of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he 
would raise up Christ, to sit on his throne. He 
seeing this before spake of the resurrection of 
Christ, that his soul was not left in hell (hades) 
neither his flesh did see corruption."! The doc- 
trine, therefore, of a future state, is largely incul- 
cated in the Old Testament. 

The primary signification of the words, sheol 
and hades, bears so well upon our position^ that 
we cannot but give it a passing notice. Sheol is 
derived from the root ^tO sha-al, to ask, to 

- T 

demand. Thus hell is a place where the misera- 
ble are forever asking mercy but never obtain it. 
One drop of water, as in the case of the rich man, 
is denied them. Hades is derived from two 

# See the case of the rich man and Lazarus. Luke xvi. — Christ's 
reply to the thief on the cross — and Rev. xx. 13 5 14. 

f See Campbell Pre. Diss. VI. Lowth Lee. on Heb. Poetry VI. 
Stuart's Essay on Future Punishment, page 128. 



SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. 69 

words, a, privative, and *fev, to see. Hence, it is 
often said that the wicked " shall not see God," 
" shall not see the kingdom of God," and " shall 
not see life." 

Does sheol ever mean a place of torment ? 
This is the question. It is strange, that because 
it has a different signification, which we readily 
admit, — nay, contend for, it should be inferred 
that it can have no other. One might, with equal 
propriety, contend that because the word, render- 
ed from the Hebrew, heaven, signifies, 1st, The 
atmosphere in which the fowls of the air move, and 
2d, The place in which we behold the sun, moon 
and stars, that therefore the word signifies nothing 
farther. But this would be too much for Universal- 
ists : and it is worthy of observation, that every 
one of their arguments to prove that there is no 
hell, or place of future punishment, may also, 
with equal force, be brought to prove that there is 
no heaven, or place of future happiness. If then 
the word rendered heaven, and meaning the at- 
mosphere, and the visible heavens, has a super- 
added signification, and means the residence of 
God and his holy angels, is it unreasonable that 
the word sheol should also have a superadded 
signification, and should sometimes be used 
to signify a place of punishment ? We can see 
nothing unreasonable in this ; nay, we perceive 



70 SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. 

the same accumulated sense that we find in al- 
most all other terms. Then when we consider 
that sheol, in the sense we have been considering, 
is the receptacle of souls in their separate state, 
the lower part of which, according to the He- 
brews, was occupied by the wicked ; it is quite 
natural that by a metonomy of a part for the 
whole, it should occasionally be used to signify a 
place of torment. Words are often changing 
their signification, and having a new sense added 
to them. That the English word hell was some- 
times used, in former days, in the sense of hades^ 
there can be no doubt. See the Apostles' creed, 
" he descended into hell" At the present time, 
however, it is never used in any other sense than 
as a place of torment. 

That it is used to signify a place of torment in 
Psalms ix. 17, the passage we are now consider- 
ing, we have undeniable proof. " The wicked 
shall be turned into hell and all the nations that 
forget God." Here sheol must mean something 
more than the grave, or the invisible state of souls. 
It must mean a place of torment. Suppose it 
does not — suppose it to mean the grave, or some- 
thing short of a place of torment ; then it would 
follow that the righteous, and all the nations that 
do not forget God, shall be denied a grave, or 
shall not go into the invisible world ; which by the 



SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. 71 

process redactio ad absurdum cannot be true ; for 
many good men we read of, who went down to 
the grave, and whose souls entered the invisible 
world. Our blessed Saviour's went down to hades. 

Let us not be misunderstood. The supposition 
is, for the sake of argument, that sheol, in the 
above passage, means the grave, or something 
short of a place of torment. Now all men go 
down to the grave, all enter the invisible world : 
but upon the construction of Universalists, it is a 
fair and undeniable inference, that the righteous 
shall not have a grave ; or, shall not enter the in- 
visible world. Instead then of being what it pur- 
ports, a threatening to the wicked, it is the an- 
nouncement of a blessing ; and, by implication, 
it is the announcement of a curse to the righteous 
and all the nations that do not forget God. To 
avoid this conclusion, some say, that the words 
simply threaten a speedy death to the wicked. 
Not the least intimation is given that such is their 
sense and it is well known that the wicked gen- 
erally live in this world as long as the righteous. 

Hades also is most obviously used in the same 
sense in Luke xvi. 23. " And in hell (a%) he 
lifted up his eyes, being in torment." We have 
already said enough upon the similarity of signifi- 
cation between sheol and hades. Hades, in the 
passage quoted, evidently means a place of tor- 



72 SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. 

ment. " In hades he lifted up his eyes, being' in 
torment" Whether hades be here spoken of by 
a metonomy of a part for the whole, it matters 
not, so far as our argument is concerned. It is 
sufficient that we have shown, that it sometimes 
means a place of torment; and having establish- 
ed this, we think there are other passages which 
go far to confirm this position. We will no more 
than barely refer to them. See 2 Sam. xxii. 6. — 
Psalms xviii. 5, and cxvi. 3, where the sorrows 
and pains of sheol are spoken of : also Prov. v. 5 
— vii. 27 — ix. 18., &c. 

We do not, however, rest upon the significa- 
tion of sheol and hades alone, for the support of 
the doctrine of future punishment. There are 
other words whose meaning as a place of punish- 
ment, cannot be misunderstood. Fsswa gehenna, 
in the New Testament, is always most unequivocal- 
ly employed in this sense. Gehenna was original- 
ly the name of a valley skirting Jerusalem on the 
south, running westward from the valley of Jeho- 
shaphat, under Mount. Zion, and is derived from 
two Hebrew words, ft'SH &0?) gv hinnom, mean- 
ing Valley of Hinnom. In this valley was estab- 
lished the idolatrous worship of Moloch, to whom 
they burned infants in sacrifice.^ This worship 
was broken up, and the place desecrated by Jo- 

# 1 Kings xi. 7, and 2 Kings xvi. 3. 



SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. 73 

siah,^ after which, it seems to have become the 
receptacle for the filth of the city, as also, for the 
carcasses of animals and the bodies of malefac- 
tors, to consume which, fires appear to have been 
kindled from time to time. 

By an easy metaphor the Jews transferred the 
name of this valley to the place of punishment in 
the future world. t 

By the New Testament writers, as we have re- 
marked, the word is used altogether to denote a 
place of punishment. It is used by Matthew sev- 
en times, by Mark three times, by Luke once, 
and by James once, making twelve instances in 
all. In ten of these instances the language is 
plain, and direct, and in the other two instances, 
Matt, xxiii. 15, and James iii. 6, although the lan- 
guage is figurative, the allusion is so plainly to the 
miseries of the damned in the other world, that its 
force cannot be mistaken. $ 

There are are other terms also, the meaning of 
which is quite unequivocal as to there being a 
place of future punishment. It is designated by 
the terms " everlasting fire," " outer darkness," 
" the worm that dieth not," and " the fire that is 
not quenched," " the bottomless pit," " a prison," 

* 2 Kings xxiii. 10-14. f See Robinson under the word Tsswa. 

| Mark ix. 43, 45, 47. Matt. v. 22, 29, 30— x. 28— xviii. 9— xxviii. 
15, 33. Lukexii. 5. James iii. 6 

7 



74 SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. 

" the second death," &c. We shall have occa- 
sion, as we pass along in our argument, to notice 
the several places in which these terms are em- 
ployed. 

In Psalms xxxvii. 37, 38, the happy end of the 
righteous, and the miserable end of the wicked are 
placed in contrast. " Mark the perfect man and 
behold the upright ; for the end of that man is 
peace. Bat the transgressors shall be destroyed 
together : the end of the wicked shall be cut off." 
If the final end of men is so different, their charac- 
ters so opposite, the one so peaceful, and the oth- 
er " cut off" from all hope and happiness, on 
what ground can we build the hope of universal 
salvation ? If the wicked are punished according 
to their deserts in this world, and the full debt to 
law and justice is paid, why is this contrast in 
their end ? Why do we find them here, in their 
final end, represented as sustaining entirely oppo- 
site characters ? 

In Ezekiel iii. 18, 19, God says, "When I say 
unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die ; and thou 
givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the 
wicked from his wicked way to save his life, the 
same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his 
blood will I require at thy hand. Yet if thou warn 
the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, 
nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his ini- 



SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. 



75 



quity, but thou hast delivered thy soul." These 
words are repeated in Ezekiel xxxiii., with the 
additional solemn asseveration, " Say unto them, 
as I live saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure 
in the death of the wicked ; but that the wicked 
turn from his wicked way and live." In these 
words it is clearly intimated that some wicked men 
shall die in their iniquity. They cannot therefore 
have received all their punishment in this life : 
they die in their iniquity. The phrase, " die in 
his iniquity," most obviously means, that the wick- 
ed man shall die, with his iniquity still cherished 
in his bosom, and still unpardoned. If it were 
true that the death, brought to view in this pas- 
sage, meant the death of the body only, still the 
words furnish an unanswerable argument against 
the doctrine of universal salvation; and it is upon 
this argument that we principally rely. If it is cer- 
tain that some men die in their sins, how can they 
be saved ? If to the very last moment of their 
earthly existence, they cherish their sins, and die 
unpardoned, will the gate of heaven be immedi- 
ately opened to them ? Hearts are seen in heav- 
en, and would it produce no interruption to the 
joys and praises of the holy, to see a heart intro- 
duced, whose every throb was enmity to God, and 
his government ? If one of the fundamental prin- 
ciples of Universalism be true, that is, that sin car* 



76 SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. 

ries along with it its own punishment^ they could 
not be saved. This passage asserts, and many 
such passages there are, that the sinner carries his 
sins along with him into the other world. " He 
dies in his iniquity." It does not say that he dies 
by his iniquity, or he dies for his iniquity, but he 
dies in his iniquity, and this is most certainly the 
sense of the passage ; when viewed in all its parts. 
He must then, even on their own principles, carry 
misery along with him into a future state. If he 
dies in the love and approval of all his iniquity, as 
the phrase, u die in his iniquity," obviously im- 
ports, then he carries his whole life of iniquity out 
of the world with him. How then, we ask again, 
can they be saved ? It is not enough to say that 
God will change the hearts of all men at death, or 
at the resurrection: we want something in the 
shape of evidence, that God ever has, or ever will 
change the hearts of men at either of these pe- 
riods. 

Were there no state of moral debasement and 
misery, beyond the natural life of the wicked ; and 
the death of the body only, were here referred to, 
would God say. " As I live, I have no pleasure in 
the death of the wicked ?" " Precious in the 
sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." God 
is always pleased to receive to heaven, all whom 
he calls there, and when any candidate for heaven 



SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. 77 

dies, death is " the voice that Jesus sends to call 
them to his arms." 

It is evident that this passage casts its shadow 
far beyond the tomb. Suppose the system of uni- 
versal salvation true. Would any wicked man 
be turned from his iniquity by the threatening of 
a death, which would introduce him into " a far 
more, exceeding, and eternal weight of glory?" 
It is something that lies beyond death, which 
makes the threatening of death terrible. The 
contemptible evasion, that it is the cutting short 
of life, that is threatened in this and similar pas- 
sages, hardly deserves a serious refutation. Some 
of the vilest of men live to a great age ; but " the 
sinner being an hundred years old shall die accurs- 
ed." In the act of dying, many of them, says 
David, "have no bands in their death, but their 
strength is firm." It is then something that lies 
beyond death, that makes the threatening of death 
a warning to the wicked, and death itself a calami- 
ty to them ; and it is that something, that lies be- 
yond the agonies of dissolving nature, that makes 
their death displeasing to God. 

It is solemnly asserted in Proverbs xxiv. 20, 
that beyond the grave there is no reward to the 
wicked. " There is no reward to the evil man ; 
the candle of the wicked shall be put out." This 

passage evidently looks into a future state, for in 

7* 



78 



SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. 



Matthew vi., it is plainly stated that the wicked 
have their reward in this life — all the reward at 
which thev aim — there is none that awaits them 
in another world. They have their portion, their 
own chosen portion, in their "life time." By the 
phrase their " candle being put out," is meant 
the utter extinction of all that which they regard 
as their light and glory. It cannot mean simply 
their death, for good men die likewise. If at 
death, as Universalists assert, they are to enter 
that world where their u sun shall no more go 
down, neither their moon withdraw itself," what 
force can there be in the passage, as a declaration 
of evil to the wicked ? 

In Job viii. 13, 14, it is said, " So are the paths 
of all that forget God, and the hypocrite's hope 
shall perish; whose hope shall be cut off and 
whose trust shall be a spider's web." If all men, 
at death, were to be received into a holy and hap- 
py state, it would not be true that the hypocrite's 
hope shall perish ; it would be infinitely more than 
realized. The hypocrite's hope is his religious 
hope ; his hope which relates to a future state. 
To evade the force of this passage, it is said that 
the succeeding verse, " He shall lean upon his 
house and it shall not stand ; he shall hold it fast, 
but it shall not endure," proves that "the hope 
which shall perish is a mere worldly hope — a 



SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. 79 

hope in his earthly habitation." In reply to this, 
it may be observed, that the " house" on which 
" he shall lean," mentioned in the fifteenth verse, 
relates to " his trust" spoken of in the preceding. 
This will appear evident, when it is considered 
that the term " spider's web," should have been 
rendered " spider's house." The words then would 
read, " Whose hope shall be cut off, and whose 
trust shall be a spider's house. He shall lean up- 
on his house," that is, his trust or hope, " and it 
shall not stand, he shall hold it fast, but it shall not 
endure." In death they will cleave to their vain, 
and false hope, but it will fail them. 

It should be observed, that the reason why the 
hypocrite hopes, is owing to his forgetfulness of 
God. If he did not forget what God is, and that 
he will not be mocked, he could not indulge in 
any hope, for a moment. The hope of such per- 
sons is altogether from themselves, like a spider's 
web, and it will yield them no better support. 

Very similar language is found in Job xi. 20. 
" But the eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they 
shall not escape, and their hope shall be as the 
giving up of the ghost." The sense of the pas- 
sage is, that the destruction of their hope will be 
as inevitable as a man's yielding up his spirit in 
death: and "no man hath power over the spirit 
to retain the spirit ; neither hath he powey in the 



80 SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. 

day of death, and there is no discharge in that 
war, neither shall wickedness deliver them that 
are given to it."* They will look for light, on 
the ground of their own righteousness, or their be- 
lief in Universalism, but behold darkness and the 
shadow of death will come over them. They 
shall not escape the wrath of God, and the retri- 
butions of eternity. How can these, and numer- 
ous other passages, which we forbear to repeat, 
be regarded as at all consistent with the idea that 
wicked men pass from this world into an incon- 
ceivably happy and glorious state ? The man 
must be beside himself, who does not perceive that 
they conflict with such a system. 

In Psalms cxix. 115, it is said, " Salvation is 
far from the wicked, for they seek not thy sta- 
tutes." The wicked are described not simply as 
not doing God's statutes, but as not seeking them. 
They do not acquaint themselves with them ; they 
wish not to know the length and breadth of them, 
and the penalty of transgression. Such knowledge 
would annihilate their hopes. 

" Salvation is far from the wicked." No tem- 
poral salvation is referred to. Temporal deliver- 
ances are as often experienced by the wicked as 
by the righteous. It is the " great salvation" that 
is far from them. They flatter themselves that it 

* Ecc. viii. 8. 



SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. 81 

is near, that their path is leading them to heaven, 
but they are awfully deceived : it is far from them. 
They thrust it far from them, by thrusting the Sa- 
viour far from them. It is so far from them, that 
they will never reach it, except they turn ; and 
the longer they persist in unbelief and sin, the 
more distant it is ; and if they die in their iniquity 
it will forever be far from them. But though sal- 
vation is far from them, their damnation is near : 
" their judgment now of a long time lingereth not, 
and their damnation slumbereth not." But upon 
the hypothesis of Universalism, salvation is at no 
greater distance from one class of men than ano- 
ther. 

In proof of the doctrine of future punishment, 
we will now refer you, in rapid succession, to seve- 
ral other concurring passages of scripture. In 
Isaiah lix. 17, it is said, in speaking of Christ, 
" He put on righteousness as a breast-plate and a 
helmet of salvation upon his head ; and he put on 
the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was 
clad with zeal as a cloak. According to their 
deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his ad- 
versaries and recompense to his enemies." A- 
gain, in Isaiah lxvi. 14. " The hand of the Lord 
shall be known toward his servants, and his indig- 
nation toward his enemies." Nahum i. 2. " God 
is jealous and the Lord revenge th and is furious. 



82 SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. 

The Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, 
and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. The 
Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and 
will not at all acquit the wicked." Gen. xxxiv. 
7. " He will by no means clear the guilty." 
Den. xxix. 19, 20. " If one say I shall have 
peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine 
heart to add drunkenness to thirst ; the Lord will 
not spare him ; but the anger of the Lord and his 
jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the 
curses that are written in this book shall lie upon 
him : and the Lord shall blot out his name from 
under heaven." Heb. x. 30. " Vengeance is 
mine, I will recompense saiththe Lord." Psalms 
xciv. 1. u O Lord God, to whom vengeance be- 
longeth : O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, 
show thyself. Lift up thyself thou Judge of the 
earth, render a reward to the proud. Lord how 
long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked 
triumph." 

Several remarks, bearing upon our subject, 
suggest themselves, from these passages, which 
we will briefly notice. 1st. Vengeance is ascrib- 
ed to God, and its infliction relates to future time. 
God's vengeance is not a malignant passion, but 
implies simply the infliction of punishment for 
sin. It belongs to God only, because he alone 
can punish the sinner, and he alone has a right to 



SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. 83 

do it. This feature of God's character is perfect- 
ly consistent with his mercy. 2d. His Ven- 
geance is spoken of in connection with his salva- 
tion. " The helmet of salvation is on his head," 
and he " has on the garments of vengeance for 
clothing." So also in Isaiah lxiii. 4. " The day 
of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my 
redeemed is come." His punishment of the wick- 
ed, and his salvation of the penitent, perfectly 
harmonize. Both proceed from the same heart 
of benevolence, and the same principles of right- 
eousness. 3d. The vengeance is to be inflicted 
upon the wicked. It does not consist in their suf- 
ferings in the present life. " He reserveth wrath 
for his enemies." In 2 Peter ii. 9 it is said, " The 
Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of 
temptation, and to reserve the unjust unto the day 
of judgment, to be punished." Their punishment 
is not corporeal death ; for in Job xxxi. 3 it is 
written, " Is not destruction to the wicked, and a 
strange punishment to the workers of iniquity." 
4th. The wicked may prosper long in this world, 
" How long shall the wicked prosper"? 5th. 
Vengeance will certainly be inflicted on the wick- 
ed. It is repeatedly said that "his vengeance shall 
be known," that " he will not spare," " will not at 
all acquit the wicked," " will not clear the guilty." 
God will " lift up himself and render a reward to 



84 SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY* 

the proud." In Eccl. viii. 12, it is said, " Though 
a sinner do evil a hundred times, and his days be 
prolonged ; yet surely I know it shall be well with 
them that fear God. But it shall not be well with 
the wicked" Again, in Isaiah iii. 11. " Woe to 
the wicked, it shall be ill with him ; the reward of 
his hands shall be given him." That their re-, 
ward is not given them this side the grave, is a 
well established fact. They often prosper through 
a long life, have all the happiness they desire, 
and say to their souls, u Thou hast much goods 
laid up for many years, eat, drink and be merry," 
until the last day of their lives. The wrath they 
have treasured up, will not be given them until 
the day of wrath. 

In Prov. xiv. 32, it is said, " The wicked is 
driven away in his wickedness, but the righteous 
hath hope in his death." This language cannot 
be construed in any manner consistent with the 
position that all men are saved. The state of 
the righteous and the wicked in death, are con- 
trasted. The one has hope, and the other is 
driven away. If at death the wicked enter the 
heavenly world, then they are driven away to 
heaven! The expression implies displeasure on 
the part of God, who drives them away from the 
world, and does not this conflict with the idea that 
they are received to holiness and happiness ? 



SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. 85 

Being driven away, implies for ce against the will 
of him who is driven away. But certainly no 
man is forced to heaven. They are driven away, 
at death, in their ivickedness. Are they driven 
away in their ivickedness, to heaven ? There is 
no possible way of reconciling this language with 
the doctrine of universal salvation. That they 
are driven away to a place of punishment cannot 
admit of a doubt. 

In Job iv. 8, 9, we read, " They that plow ini- 
quity and sow ivickedness reap the same. By 
the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of 
his nostrils are they consumed." Admitting that 
the terms "perish," and "consumed," relate to 
their natural death, how is the anger of God, so 
vividly described in their death, consistent with 
the doctrine of universal salvation ? If the blast 
of God lights upon their death bed, and the breath 
of his nostrils consumes them there, does his face 
assume smiles and pleasure as soon as death has 
done his work ? If they are not fit to live in this 
world, are they fit to live in heaven ? 

" The harvest," our Lord tells us, " is the end 
of the world. "* This life is the seed time. It is 
a fact that cannot be disputed, that many spend 
their whole life time in " plowing iniquity and 
sowing wickedness." What then, according to 

* Matthew xiii. 39. 
8 



\ 



86 SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. 

the text, will they reap ? The same sentiment is 
repeated in Job xxi. 30. " The wicked are re- 
served to the day of destruction, they shall be 
brought forth to the day of wrath." Is not the 
doctrine of future punishment most unequivocally 
set forth in these words ? Before you give heed, 
for a single moment, to the construction which 
Universalists give to these passages, you should 
require them, both from facts and scripture, to 
show that all the wicked, in this life, suffer vastly 
more than the righteous. But this cannot be 
done. Before we close these lectures we shall 
prove the contrary by the clearest testimony. 

Passages such as those of which we have given 
a specimen in this lecture, we might repeat to a 
very great extent. They are scattered up and 
down the scriptures, warning the sinner, and 
pointing him to the grave, as the beginning of sor- 
rows which extend far beyond it, into the abyss of 
eternity. The passages we have repeated, show 
the general tone of the Bible in relation to this 
subject, and if we had no clearer evidence, they 
are sufficient to establish the doctrine under dis- 
cussion. 

In our subsequent lectures we shall classify our 
quotations : and we hope to set our subject in so 
clear a light that the most prejudiced mind shall 
perceive its truth. 



SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY. 87 

In conclusion, suffer a word of exhortation in 
the language of Ezekiel xviii. 30. " Repent and 
turn from all your transgressions, so iniquity shall 
not prove your ruin." My impenitent hearers, 
there is no need of your being ruined. There is 
no necessity of losing your souls. You need not 
lift up your eyes in hell, being in torment. You 
are warned to flee from the wrath to come. You 
are commanded to turn from your evil ways, that 
you may not perish. If you repent and turn you 
will not be ruined. " Though your sins be as 
scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though 
they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." 
But if you will not repent and turn, be assured, 
iniquity will prove your ruin — your everlasting 
ruin. No person in the universe can save you 
against the solemn sentence of Jehovah. Haste 
thee, then, from every refuge of lies, and escape 
to that sure hiding place, where no storm of ven- 
geance can come. 



LECTURE IV. 



DIRECT ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE, TO PROVE THE 
DOCTRINE OF ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. 



1 Peter iii. 12. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, 
and his ears are open unto their prayers : but the faee of the Lord is 
against them that do evil. 

When we present the threatenings of the Lord 
against evil doers, we are often met with the ques- 
tion, " What man is he that doeth good and sin- 
neth not" ? If there are none, then it is said, that the 
argument for future punishment, from the threaten- 
ings of God against the wicked, involves the whole 
human family in the same condemnation. Wait a 
moment. Although there is not a just man upon 
the earth, that doeth good only, and sinneth not ; 
although there are Pauls groaning under a body 
of sin and death ; although there are Davids cry- 
ing, " Create in me a clean heart," yet all men 
are not impenitent, unpardoned sinners. " Christ 

is the end of the law for righteousness to every 

8* 



90 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

one that believeth." In him they have righteous- 
ness and salvation. 

From our text it will be perceived that men are 
divided into two classes ; and that there is such a 
difference in their moral characters, notwithstand- 
ing the remaining imperfection of the best of men, 
as to lay a foundation for the distinctive names 
given them, of the righteous and the wicked. It 
will also be perceived that God regards these two 
classes with very different feelings. " The Lord 
loveth the righteous," but he " hateth all the 
workers of iniquity.' 9 If God regards the right- 
eous and the wicked with different feelings now, 
by what process of reasoning can it be shown 
that he will regard them with different feelings 
hereafter? If his " face is against them that do 
evil," how can it be shown, that the finally wick- 
ed will ever be saved from the frowning indigna- 
tion of that face ? If it is said that their charac- 
ters will finally be changed, we reply, that this is 
the very thing to be proved. Not a particle of 
evidence have we ever seen. You will observe 
also, that all evidence that the wicked will be pun- 
ished in a future state, is evidence that they will 
be punished eternally, unless it can be shown that 
there is another state of trial beyond the present 
life. 

For further proof that some of the human fami- 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 91 

ly will suffer endless punishment, we will consid- 
er, 

I. The evidence resulting from the promises 
of God. 

The promises of scripture are like the cloud 
which conducted the children of Israel through 
the wilderness ; it was all luminous on one side, 
and all opaque on the other. They give light 
and gladness to the children of God, while they 
look with a dark and frowning aspect towards his 
enemies. The general character of them is ex- 
pressed by the language of our text, " The eyes 
of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears 
are open to their prayers, but the face of the Lord 
is against them that do evil." 

The promises of God are not made to men per- 
sonally : they are made to certain characters, and 
they become our's personally, only as we sustain 
those characters. In those promises which relate 
to salvation, the blessings awarded, are peculiar. 
They comprise holiness and happiness. Let us 
look at one or two, as a sample of all. To those 
that shall be saved, the gospel promises deliver- 
ance from the dominant power of sin. " Thou 
shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his peo- 
ple from their sins." Matt. i. 21. " Neither yield 
ye your members as instruments of unrighteous- 
ness unto sin : but yield yourselves unto God as 



92 ARGUMENTS FROM SCIRPTURE. 

those that are alive from the dead, and your 
members as instruments of righteousness unto 
God : for sin shall not have dominion over you." 
Rom. v. 13, 14. These promises are made to 
particular characters. The first is to his people, 
whose character is elsewhere defined : the second 
is to those that are " alive from the dead." The 
blessing promised is deliverance from the dominion 
of sin. Will any man presume to say that all 
men sustain these characters, or that all are in 
possession of the blessing promised ? Deliver- 
ance from sin is the germ of salvation. It is that 
fruit of the spirit, " which is the earnest of our in- 
heritance, until the redemption of the purchased 
possession." 

The promises of eternal life are all made to de- 
finite characters. In Daniel it is said, " They 
that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the 
firmament ; and they that turn many to righteous- 
ness as the stars forever and ever." # Our Sa- 
viour says, " The righteous shall shine forth as the 
sun in the kingdom of their Father."! In the 
Epistle to the Romans it is said, " Being made 
free from sin, ye have your fruit unto holiness and 
the end everlasting life."t Again, our Saviour 
says, " Whosoever drinketh the water that I shall 
give him, shall never thirst : but the water that I 

* Dan. xii. 2. f Matt. xiii. 14. % Rom. vi. 12. 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 93 

shall give him shall be in him a well of water 
springing up into everlasting life."* In the Rev- 
elation of St. John it is said, "Thou hast a few 
names even in Sardis which have not defiled their 
garments, and they shall walk with me in white, 
for they are worthy;" and again, " To him that 
overcometh will I grant to sit with me on my 
throne."! Paul says to the Galatians, " He that 
soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life 
everlasting. "J Such, indeed, is the language of 
all the promises. There is not in all Holy Scrip- 
ture, a single promise of heaven and happiness 
made to all men without distinction. But if God 
had purposed to save the whole human family ; if 
all men were surely to be received to holiness and 
happiness at last, such restriction of language in 
the promises would be destitute of meaning. The 
promises are designed to animate and encourage 
us in our spiritual conflicts ; but no one would be 
influenced to the attainment of a certain charac- 
ter, in order to the enjoyment of honor and hap- 
piness, if he could just as certainly enjoy them 
without such attainment. 

The promises of life and happiness^ being made 
to specific characters, most obviously exclude all 
that do not sustain those characters. No one will 
presume to say that all men possess those quali- 

# John iv. 14. f Rev. iii. 4, 21. j: Gal. vi. 8. 



94 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

ties, in consideration of which, the promises of 
life are made. They are made to the " wise," to 
the " righteous," to those that are " made free from 
sin" and have their " fruit unto holiness," to those 
"that overcome," and to those " that sow to the 
Spirit." Is it not then clear, from the promises 
of God, that the wicked will not be saved ? 
Scarcely do the threatenings, that flash from eve- 
ry page of scripture, gather into a more deep and 
alarming frown of indignation against the impeni- 
tent, than do the promises. They speak as loud- 
ly of judgment to the sinner, as of life and happi- 
ness to the believer. If they open heaven to the 
"wise," the "penitent," and the "believing"; 
they exclude, as plainly as language can exclude, 
the unwise, the impenitent, and the unbelieving. 

Suppose a sovereign, on account of some signal 
favor to him and his people, should proclaim an 
amnesty to certain prisoners, specifying their cha- 
racter ; would not this be understood as sealing 
the sentence of those who did not come within 
the specifications, more firmly than it would have 
been had no pardon been proclaimed ? It would 
evince that he had looked over the cases of all, and 
had deliberately determined on pardoning only a 
certain class. Or suppose a general, before go- 
ing to battle, should promise a reward and honors 
to those who should quit themselves like men, and 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 95 

sustain the conflict to the last ; might they come 
forward and claim the reward who had cowardly 
turned their backs upon the enemy ? Now if the 
promise is, that they who sow to the Spirit shall 
reap life everlasting, will they who sow to the 
flesh reap the same ? It is promised that the 
righteous shall shine forth as the sun ; will then 
the unrighteous shine in the same manner ? If 
the righteous are scarcely saved, will the ungodly 
and the sinner be saved also ? 

II. We pass now to consider the evidence from 
those passages of scripture which represent sin- 
ners as in danger of future punishment. 

Christ said to the Scribes and Pharisees in Mat- 
thew xxiii. 33, " Ye serpents, ye generation of 
vipers ! How can ye escape the damnation of 
hell"? Is our Lord trifling in these words? or 
did he attempt merely to frighten them ? He re- 
presents them as something more than in danger 
of hell ; their condition is set forth as desperate. 
How can they repent who do not consider them- 
selves as needing repentance ? How can the 
sick be healed who will not apply to a physician, 
nor take the only medicine that will heal them ? 
Could such language be employed, with any con- 
sistency, by a believer in universal salvation ? 

In Matt. v. 22, we read, " Whosoever is an- 
gry with his brother without a cause, shall be in 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE , 

danger of the judgment; whosoever shall say to 
his brother, raca, shall be in danger of the coun- 
cil : but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be 
in danger of hell fire." Our Saviour is here ex- 
posing the sin of anger and hatred, which often 
shows itself by a bitterness of expression. It is 
an elementary principle of murderous practice. 
There must then be a " hell fire," or no man 
could be in danger of it. It cannot be the tor- 
ment of anger itself, as it is anger which consti- 
tutes the danger of falling into it. The term here 
rendered hell is always, in the New Testament, 
used to designate the place of future punishment. 
The solemn appeal of the apostle in 1 Peter iv. 
17, 18, not only intimates the danger of the impeni- 
tent, but strongly affirms, that there will be an 
everlasting separation between the righteous and 
the wicked, in a future world. " For the time is 
come," says he, "that judgment must begin at 
the house of God ; and if it first begin at us, what 
shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel 
of God ? And if the righteous scarcely be saved 
where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear"? 
The judgment which had begun at the house of 
God, was that season of trial foretold by our Sa- 
viour, in Matt. xxiv. 9, 10. The argument is 
this : If God suffers his own beloved people to be 
thus afflicted, will he not punish those who afflict 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 97 

them ? If the house of God suffers, what must 
be the dreadful end, of those who prosper in the 
world, and despise, and disobey the gospel? 
What ; although they may awhile escape ? If 
the righteous are not saved without many afflic- 
tions, without much seeking, and striving, and la- 
boring, and without many struggles and tears, is 
it possible that they can be saved who never seek 
nor strive ? That the salvation, here spoken of, 
is not any temporal salvation, is obvious from 
what the apostle says of the righteous, that they are 
not even scarcely saved from sufferings in this life. 
" The time is come that judgment must begin at 
the house of God." Looking at things as they 
are in this world, the apostle casts his eye forward 
to another, and concludes that the state of the im- 
penitent there, must be dreadful beyond the pow- 
er of language to describe. 

If there is no danger of sinners perishing in hell, 
why do we read in Mark iii. 29, " He that shall 
blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never for- 
giveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation." 
Here the language is plain and unequivocal, that 
some men never shall be forgiven* Will it be 
said that the sin against the Holy Ghost is never 
committed ? Why then did our Lord use such 
language ? If there is no such thing as eternal 
damnation, how can a man be in danger of it ? 

9 



98 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

As to the rendering which Universalists give to 
the words, as recorded by Matt. xii. 32, that " it 
shall not be forgiven him, neither in the Jewish 
age nor the Christian," it is too simple to deserve 
a serious refutation. Argument would be thrown 
away upon a man who is capable of believing it. 

Who can read the language of Jesus Christ in 
Luke xii. 4, 5, and doubt the existence of future 
punishment ? " And I say unto you my friends, 
Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after 
that have no more that they can do. But I will 
forewarn you whom ye shall fear : fear him who, 
after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell : 
yea, I say unto you, fear him." These words 
place beyond a doubt several important truths : 

1st. There is a hell : if there is not, the words 
are destitute of meaning. That it is a place of 
punishment, is clear, because our Lord represents 
it as more terrible than death. There is nothing 
that men usually fear more than death, but Jesus 
Christ tells us that hell is much more to be feared, 
and that there is great danger in the case of some, 
that they will suffer there. 

2d. The punishment of hell is subsequent to 
death. " Fear him who, after he hath killed, 
hath power to cast into hell." The punishment 
of hell is beyond this life. It is not the grave : 
for it does not require almighty power to cast into 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 99 

the grave. They who kill the body can do it. 
Besides, the grave is the house appointed for all 
the living. 

3d. The punishment of hell is not annihilation ; 
for the person is spoken of as existing, and being 
conscious after the body is killed. Annihilation 
is not punishment, for there can be no punishment 
where there is no consciousness. We know not 
how many beings may yet exist in this world, but 
until they exist, Ave are certain no pain can be in- 
flicted upon them, and after having lived should 
they be annihilated, they could not be made any 
more sensible of pain ; for, both before and after 
life, their case would be the same. For a good 
man to be assured that he shall be annihilated, 
would be a grievous punishment to him up to the 
time of his annihilation, but it could be no punish- 
ment to him afterwards. But, on the other hand, 
to the most abandoned of men, the assurance of 
annihilation, would be no punishment at all; it 
it would rather embolden them to pursue their 
own chosen way. 

Again, in Matt. xvi. 26, our Saviour represents 
the soul as in danger of being lost. " What shall 
it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, 
and lose his own soul ? or what shall a man give 
in exchange for his soul"? Universalists assert, 
that it is not possible for a man to lose his soul ; 



100 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

but Jesus Christ in these words affirms that it is 
possible for the soul to be lost ; and that the gain 
of the whole world is not to be compared with 
such a loss. To evade the force of this passage, 
it is said that the term here rendered, " soul" sig- 
nifies life. No one will dispute that it does, but 
it often signifies the soul, the spiritual part of man, 
and that is obviously its sense here. Upon the 
supposition that the natural life is here meant, 
what force is there in the appeal, admitting Uni- 
versalism to be true ? At death, it is said, every 
man enters upon never ending happiness : what 
then, this being so, would it profit a man to gain 
the whole world and lose his natural life ? What? 
why, he would be profited more than the most 
ambitious of men ever desired to be profited. He 
would have the whole world and heaven too. 
Having gained the whole world and enjoyed its 
honors and pleasures, for that is implied in gain- 
ing it, what more could he desire, than to lay 
down his life, and enter upon immortal glory ? 
Their own system, it will be perceived, if they 
would maintain any show of consistency, forbids 
such a rendering of the term in this passage. To 
a confirmed Universalist, such a rendering would 
have no tendency to curb his ambition, or restrain 
him from pursuing any feasible course to the ob« 
taining of the world. 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 101 

Again, in Heb. xii. 14, we are cautioned to 
" follow peace with all men, and holiness, without 
which, no man shall see the Lord ; looking dili- 
gently, lest any man fail of the grace of God." 
It is here explicitly stated that " without holiness 
no man shall see the Lord," and it will hardly be 
denied that many die without holiness. It is also 
expressly intimated that there is danger of " fail- 
ing of the grace of God," without which no man 
can be saved. 

"Why these admonitions and cautions ? why are 
certain men said to be in danger of eternal dam- 
nation ? Why are we cautioned to " fear him 
who, after he hath killed, hath power to cast in- 
to hell"? if there be no state of future punishment, 
and no danger of suffering it ? On the supposi- 
tion that there is none, such cautions and warn- 
ings are a sport unworthy the Deity. 

III. That some of the human family will suffer 
endless punishment, we proceed to establish from 
those passages of scripture, which assert that some 
men shall never enter the kingdom of heaven. 

Heaven is the glorious, happy home of the 
righteous. All our conceptions of it, however, 
are very feeble, but we know it is free from every 
thing which constitutes the misery of this world. 
To aid our conceptions of it, it is compared to a 
city, transcendantly beautiful and glorious. We 

9* 



102 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

are certain that many will fail of obtaining an en- 
trance there : not because heaven is not large 
enough, and easy of access, but because they dis- 
like the path that leads to it. 

In Rev. xxi. 27, it is said, " And there shall in 
no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, nei- 
ther whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh 
a lie : but they which are written in the Lamb's 
book of life." We see not how any one can dis- 
pute that by the holy Jerusalem referred to, is 
meant the kingdom of heaven — the glorious place 
of final and everlasting rest to the redeemed. No 
passage in the Bible speaks of it, if this does not. 
It was in a vision that John saw it ; hence it was 
said to " come down from God out of heaven" 
to give him a view of it. So, it is said, that Peter 
in a vision, saw a great sheet let down from heav- 
en. Into the church on earth many that defile, 
and work abominations, and make lies, have en- 
tered, and will continue to enter to the end of 
time. These words afford us clear and decisive 
evidence, that many of the human family never 
will enter the kingdom of heaven. " There shall 
in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth." 
Many pass out of this world sustaining that cha- 
racter which will be forever excluded from the 
" rest which remaineth for the people of God." 

In Matt. v. 20, our blessed Lord says, " Ex- 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 103 

cept your righteousness shall exceed the righteous- 
ness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no 
case enter into the kingdom of heaven" The 
righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees was 
self-righteousness : it originated in selfish motives, 
and was prosecuted for selfish ends. It had much 
of the show of decency, and zeal, and benevo- 
lence ; but it was like a body without a soul. It 
was works without faith, which are as dead as 
faith without works. That righteousness, which 
alone will justify and save, is " the righteousness 
of God, by faith of Jesus Christ, which is unto all 
and upon all them that believe, "^ 

In order to meet the evasions of Universalists, 
we observe, that by the terms " kingdom of heav- 
en,'' is not meant, in the passage under consider- 
tion, the gospel church ; for many possessing a 
righteousness no better than that of the Scribes 
and Pharisees, have entered, and do still enter it. 
That the spiritual kingdom of heaven on earth is 
not meant, is obvious from several considera- 
tions : 

1st. It would be making our Saviour utter a 
very simple truism ; for the spiritual kingdom of 
God essentially consists in " righteousness and 
peace and joy in the Holy Ghost." 

2d. Our Lord speaks, not simply of a moral 

* Rom. iii. 22. 



104 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE, 

difficulty, which such an interpretation supposes, 
but of an enactment of heaven. He does not say, 
" Ye will not enter," but in the strongest lan- 
guage of a settled decree of heaven, " Ye shall in 
no wise enter the kingdom of heaven." In the 
original, two negatives are employed to make the 
asseveration more firm and decisive. 

3d. On the supposition even, that the spiritual 
kingdom of God on earth is here meant, the 
words would be decisive against the system of 
Universalism ; for if no one can enter the spiritual 
kingdom of God on earth without possessing a 
righteousness better than that of the Scribes and 
Pharisees, then none, most certainly, can ever en- 
ter the glorious and still more spiritual kingdom 
of God above, without a righteousness exceeding 
theirs. 

Whatever view is taken of this passage, it af- 
fords most unequivocal and decisive evidence, that 
the wicked will be forever excluded from the glo- 
rious kingdom of heaven prepared for the saints. 

Equally plain, also, is the language of our Lord 
in Matt. vii. 21, " Not every one that saith unto me 
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heav- 
en ; but he that doeth the will of my Father, which 
is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day> 
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name ? 
and in thy name have cast out devils ? and in thy 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 105 

name done many wonderful works ? And then 
will I profess unto them, I never knew you : De- 
part from me, ye that work iniquity." 

" That day" here referred to, is the day of judg- 
ment, as is obvious from the context. It is often 
designated by the terms "that day"* It is so 
called because it is the day by way of eminence, 
the day of days, " the day for which all other days 
were made." The inspired writers had no idea 
of the absurd notion of Universalists, that the day 
of judgment was intended only for those who liv- 
ed before and just at the commencement of the 
christian dispensation. They believed that it was 
to be at the " end of days," and is intended as a 
period of final retribution and reward for the 
whole human family. Hence they designate it as 
"that day" So did our blessed Lord in the pas- 
sage under consideration, in which his language is 
as clear as possible that some men shall not enter 
the kingdom of heaven. " Not every one that 
saith un(o me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the king- 
dom of heaven." Not only the openly profane, 
but many moral men, and even professors of reli- 
gion, will find no admittance. Their plea for ac- 
ceptance will be, that they had entered the gospel 
church, and were distinguished members in it. 
" Have we not prophesied in thy name ?" and 

* 2 Tim. xi. 12, 13. 2 Thess. i. 19. 



106 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

another evangelist adds, " We have eaten and 
drunk in thy presence," that is, at the communion 
table. But Christ will say to them, " I never 
knew you, depart from me." 

This passage bids defiance to all sophistry. 
The language is simple and plain, and cannot be 
misunderstood. "Who that cares for heaven or 
hell can be willing to be guided by men. in their 
spiritual and eternal interests, who will deliber- 
ately wrest so plain a testimony of Jesus Christ ? 
If there be one place in hell hotter than another, 
it must be assigned to those who deliberately lead 
souls to ruin by promising them peace. 

In further confirmation of our position, we refer 
you to the words of our Lord, in Matt, xviii. 2, 3. 
" Jesus called a little child and set him in the 
midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you, 
Except ye be converted, and become as little chil- 
dren, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heav- 
en." If then all men are not converted, and do 
not become as little children, then all men will 
never enter the kingdom of heaven. Our re- 
marks on the term, " kingdom of heaven," when 
on a former passage, apply also to this. We will 
only add that on the supposition that the spiritual 
kingdom of heaven on earth is here meant, it 
would make the words of Christ a mere tautolo- 
gy ; for the spiritual kingdom of Christ, consists 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 



107 



in a spirit and conduct strikingly analogous to that 
of little children. It would therefore be making 
our Lord say, " Except ye be converted, ye shall 
not be converted ; Except ye become as little 
children, ye shall not be as little children." Be- 
sides this incongruity, there is another equally so. 
Supposing the phrase, " kingdom of heaven," to 
mean, either the visible or spiritual church on 
earth, then, according to the system of Universal- 
ists, a holiness is made necessary to enter therein, 
that is not necessary to enter heaven above. In 
reply to this, it will be said, that all men are to be 
made perfectly holy at death. But why, we ask, 
are they not made sufficiently holy before death, 
to enter the church below, if they are to be made 
sufficiently holy at, or in death, to enter the 
church above ? The idea that men are prepared 
for heaven by death, supposes them perfectly pas- 
sive in this preparation ; and if they are to be 
wrought upon mechanically at death, they may 
just as well be wr ought upon mechanically before 
death. The conclusion, therefore, is irresistible, 
that, if they are not so wrought upon and convert- 
ed before death, they never will be : for the rea- 
sons, why they should be converted before death, 
are, we had almost said, infinitely more powerful, 
than why they should be converted at or after 
death. 



108 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

Some may smile to hear us speak so much of 
holiness when reasoning upon Universalism, as it 
is well known, that holiness is the butt of its scorn. 
We do it to meet certain evasions, and to show 
the absurdity of them. An angel of darkness 
may employ the language of an angel of light, in 
order to beguile unstable souls. 

All this perversion of the term, " kingdom of 
heaven" results from the impossibility of denying 
that some remain unconverted till death, and die 
in their sins. To overcome the objection result- 
ing from this undeniable fact, it is said, that all 
men are converted at death. 

To show that such a position is false, We refer 
to the words of Jesus Christ, in John viii. 21. 
" Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, 
and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins : 
whither I go ye cannot come. "± Also in the twen- 
ty-fourth verse, he says, " I said therefore unto 
you, that ye shall die in your sins, for if ye believe 
not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." This 
language is certainly, as explicit as can be desired. 
If there were not another word on the subject in 
the whole book of God, this would be sufficient 
forever to settle the question that the finally wick- 
ed shall never enter heaven. It is stated distinctly 
that some men, through unbelief, shall die in their 
sins, and that so dying, whither Christ has gone, 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 



109 



that is, to the heavenly world, they can never 
come. 

To evade the force of these words, it is said, 
that Jesus Christ employs the same language to 
his own disciples, in John xiii. 33. In reply, we 
remark, that in the case of the unbelieving Jews 
he speaks of their not coming to him after their 
death ; "ye shall die in your sins ; whither I go ye 
cannot come"; and in the case of his disciples, he 
speaks of their not being able to follow him imme* 
diately upon his ascension to the Father. This 
is clear from the thirty-sixth verse of the thirteenth 
chapter of John, which is the one quoted by Uni- 
versalists, where he explains himself, by saying, 
" Whither I go thou canst not follow me now : 
bat thou shalt folloiv me afterwards" 

That some men will never enter the kingdom 
of heaven, is also proved from the words of our 
Saviour to Nicodemus, in John iii. 3, 5. " Jesus 
answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say 
unto thee, Except a man be born again, he can- 
not see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said 
unto him, How can a man be born when he is 
old ? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto 
thee, Except a man be born of water and of the 
Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." 
The water of which a man needs to be born, is 
not the water of baptism, but the water of the 

10 



110 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

word. This is obvious from Eph. v. 26. Christ 
gave himself for the church, " that he might sanc- 
tify and cleanse it, with the washing of water by 
the word"; that is, by the word of truth, by which 
we are said to be begotten : James i. 18. Hence, 
also, we read of " the washing of regeneration"; 
Titus iii. 5. 

But to return to the argument : as all men are 
not born again, all men can never enter the king- 
dom of heaven. In the lowest sense that has ever 
been given to these words, all men never have 
been born again. All men have never even been 
baptized, nor have all men experienced an exter- 
nal reformation. 

The same sentiment is unequivocally taught in 
1 Cor. vi. 9, 10. " Know ye not that the unright- 
eous shall not inherit the kingdom of God ? Be 
not deceived : neither fornicators, nor idolators, 
nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of 
themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covet- 
ous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, 
shall inherit the kingdom of God." That such 
characters have existed we have the testimony of 
the apostle, for he says in the succeeding verse, 
" And such were some of you ; but ye are wash- 
ed, but ye are justified, but ye are sanctified in 
the name of our Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of 
our God." That such characters do still exist, 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. Ill 

and that many of them die unconverted, no one 
can doubt ; and the assertion is positive that they 
shall never enter heaven. " Know ye not this 
truth"? says the apostle. It is a fact that every 
one might know, and, with the Bible before them, 
it is astonishing that every one does not know it, 
and feel its force and bearing. 

Very much in the same style, Paul speaks, in 
his Epistle to the Galations, v. 19-21. " Now 
the works of the flesh are manifest : which are 
these : adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciv- 
iousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, 
emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, envyings, he- 
resies, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and 
such like ; of the which I tell you before, as I 
have also told you, in time past, that they which 
do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of 
God." St. Paul most certainly was not a Uni- 
versalist preacher, for Universalists never tell 
their people " such things." 

With the same fidelity, and in the same strain, 
Paul writes to the Ephesians, v. 5. "For this 
ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean per- 
son, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath 
any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of 
God. Let no man deceive you with vain words : 
for because of these things cometh the wrath of 
God upon the children of disobedience." Here, 



112 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

again, the testimony is direct, and to the point be- 
fore us, that some men will forever be excluded 
from the " kingdom of heaven." And observe, 
the apostle cautions us against being deceived to 
the contrary. " Let no man deceive you." Let 
every man have his eyes and ears open to the 
truth. All arguments which go to oppose the 
plain and obvious sense of the Apostle in this pas- 
sage, are " vain words," with which " deceitful 
workers lie in wait to deceive." 

"We have another witness which we shall call 
up on this point, though " by the mouth of two or 
three every word shall be established." John in 
the book of Rev. xxii. 15, says, in speaking of 
heaven, " For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and 
whoremongers, and murderers, and idolators, and 
whosoever loveth and maketh a lie." If the doc- 
trine of Universalism is a lie, and we shall show 
that it is, before we finish our lectures, those who 
embrace it will have their part with those who are 
without the gates of the celestial city. These 
words are uttered at the close of John's vision. 
All things are supposed to be fixed and made per- 
manent for eternity. Heaven is peopled with 
holy angels and saints, and hell with fallen angels 
and sinners of the human family. Many of them, 
you perceive, are forever excluded " those holy 
gates which bar pollution, sin, and shame." 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 113 

We shall call your attention to only two pas- 
sages more on this point. The first is found in 
Matt. vii. 13, 14. " Enter ye in at the straight 
gate : for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, 
that leadeth to destruction, and many there be 
which go in thereat. Because straight is the gate 
and narrow is the way, that leadeth unto life, and 
few there be that find it." The other is the par- 
allel passage in Luke xiii. 24-30. " Strive to en- 
ter in at the strait gate : for many I say unto 
you will seek to enter in and shall not be able. 
When once the master of the house hath risen up, 
and hath shut to the door, ye begin to stand with- 
out and to knock at the door saying, Lord, Lord, 
open unto us : and he shall answer and say unto 
you, I know you not, whence ye are : then shall ye 
begin to say ,We have eaten and drunk in thy pre- 
sence, and thou hast taught in our streets ; but he 
shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye 
are : depart from me all ye workers of iniquity. 
There shall be w r eeping and gnashing of teeth, 
when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, 
and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and 
you yourselves thrust out. And they shall come 
from the east and from the west, from the north 
and from the south, and shall sit down in the king- 
dom of heaven. And behold, there are last which 

10* 



114 ARGUMENTS PROM SCRIPTURE. 

shall be first, and there are first which shall be 
last." 

These passages suggest several thoughts, bear- 
ing upon our subject, which we will state in the 
briefest manner possible. 1st. The disciples of 
Christ were not Universalists. This is evident 
from their question, " Are there few that be sav- 
ed ?" to which the words repeated are a reply. 
2d. Jesus Christ did not teach the doctrine of uni- 
versal salvation, for he expressly taught that many 
would seek to enter heaven and should not be 
able. He admonishes us, to " strive to enter in at 
the strait gate," which Universalists never do. 
3d. The greatest portion of the human family have 
ever been walking in the way and entering in at 
the gate, which leads to destruction. 4th. It is 
so far from being true that all men will enter heav- 
en, that " many will seek to enter in and shall not 
be able." 5th. Those who are not permitted to 
enter heaven, will forever be the subjects of great 
unhappiness and misery. Hell will be a place of 
intolerable suffering. " There shall be weeping 
and gnashing of teeth." 6th. No man will ever 
enter heaven, who does not in a proper manner, 
and at a proper time seek for it. Upon these 
thoughts we cannot dwell, and we proceed to close 
our lecture with one or two remarks. 

The reason why the evangelical system of truth 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 115 

is so much opposed, and the system of universal 
salvation, so cordially embraced by many, is not 
because the evangelical system shuts men out of 
heaven. It does not do it. It points out a path 
to heaven accessible to all. But the reason of all 
the hatred to the evangelical system is, that it 
makes repentance, faith, and holiness necessary, 
in order to " enter in through the gates into the 
city of the holy Jerusalem." Men wish to enter 
heaven without the bitter work of repentance, and 
the self-denying duties of faith. The system of 
universal salvation promises this to them, and 
hence many embrace it, without stopping to in- 
quire whether what it promises, is not like the pro- 
mise which Satan made to Christ, of the kingdoms 
of the world and the glory of them, when he held 
not the rightful possession of an inch of them. 

The system of truth which we preach, contains 
not only threatenings and denunciations of wrath, 
but it contains also warnings and invitations, and 
promises life to every soul of man who will break 
off his sins by righteousness and his iniquities by 
turning to the Lord. The reason then, why it is 
discarded by many, is because the preparation it 
requires does not quadrate with the sinful likings 
of the unrenewed heart. But it will be well for 
every man before he rejects it, to ascertain be- 
yond a doubt, whose word shall stand, — the word 
of Universalism or the word of the Lord. 



116 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

There is no room on the evangelical system, to 
talk of God's want of compassion and mercy in 
shutting men out of heaven. Heaven is shut 
against those only, who will not repent, believe 
and obey the gospel. The language of mercy is, 
" Repent and be converted every one of you, that 
your sins may be blotted out, when the times of 
refreshing shall come from the presence of the 
Lord." " Ho ! every one that thirsteth, come ye 
to the waters, and he that hath no money, come." 
" The Spirit and the bride say, come." Then in 
view of the difficulties which obstruct your en- 
trance into the kingdom of heaven, the great Au- 
thor of salvation says, " Strive to enter in at the 
strait gate." If you fail of entering, it is because 
you will not strive in the appointed way, and in 
the appointed time. Though you strive for 
wealth, and strive for honor, and strive for earthly 
happiness, yet you will not strive for heaven. O, 
there is a time when seeking and striving will be 
of no avail. That time may be near. Perhaps 
there is but " a step between you and death." 



LECTURE V. 



DIRECT ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE, TO PROVE THE 
DOCTRINE OF ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. 



II. Thessalonians i. 5-10. Which is a manifest token of the right- 
eous judgment of God, that ye maybe counted worthy of the king- 
dom of God, for which ye also suifer : 

Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to 
them that trouble you ; 

And to you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus 
shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 

In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and 
that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ : 

Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the pres- 
ence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power ; 

When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired 
in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was be- 
lieved) in that day. 

It would seem sufficient to convince any man 
that the system of universal salvation is the off- 
spring of depravity, because it perfectly assorts 
with the feelings of depraved nature ; and be- 
cause, in all its bearings and influence, it is hostile 
to the great truths of the Bible. Its language, 



118 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

and tone, and spirit are as opposite to the scrip- 
tures as light to darkness. Every one must per- 
ceive this, who has ever heard a Universalist 
preach, or has read any portion of those writings, 
in which their distinguishing views are set forth. 

The inspired penmen are ever persuading men 
" by the terrors of the Lord," and exhorting men 
to " turn from their evil ways lest they die." 
They endeavor to beget in us a fear lest we fail 
of entering the glorious rest of heaven, — lest the 
word of the Lord prove "a savor of death unto 
death." They are ever telling us of "the day of 
judgment," and of Jesus Christ coming " in flam- 
ing fire to take vengeance on them that know not 
God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord 
Jesus Christ." They warn us to " flee from the 
wrath to come," and paint the sufferings of the 
lost in the deepest shades of darkness. They 
speak of a " lake of fire," of the " second death," 
of " everlasting punishment," of " the worm that 
never dies," of " chains of darkness," of the " fire 
that never shall be quenched," and of how " fear- 
ful a thing it is to fall into the hands of the living 
God." 

The preachers of Universalism, on the other 
hand, are ever laboring to fritter away all the 
threatenings of God's wrath, — to persuade men 
that they have no cause to fear lest they fail of 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 119 

being saved, — that all seeking and striving to en- 
ter heaven is unnecessary, because it is sure to all, 
— that there is no day of judgment to come, in 
which God will separate the just from the unjust, 
— that there is no hell, or place of future punish- 
ment, and that God will never take vengeance on 
his enemies. Such is Universalism. 

Who can believe such a system, and believe the 
Bible ? Who can rest the salvation of his soul 
upon such a system ? The man who can, if he is 
not " given over to strong delusions, to believe a 
lie that he may be damned," who is ? If this be 
not a refuge of lies, where, in the wide range of 
thought, will you find one ? 

We say that this doctrine is the offspring of de- 
pravity ; although it is not exactly a system of 
human invention. It originated with one whose 
pedigree is to be traced beyond the creation of 
man, whose envious eye, and subtle wisdom, and 
malicious heart, seduced man from his allegiance 
to his Maker. He is called that " old serpent, 
the Devil." He preached the first universalis! 
sermon. Can any one show us wherein the 
preaching of Universalists differs from the preach- 
ing of Satan to our mother Eve — " Ye shall not 
surely die"? There is a perfect unity. We do 
not say this in unkindness, but to place the truth 
in its proper light. These few words, " Ye shall 



120 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

not surely die," embody the whole system of Uni- 
versalism. 

The scriptures every where place the charac- 
ters of men in contrast. They are spoken of as 
saints and sinners, as believers and unbelievers, 
as holy and unholy. Their present condition is 
represented as very different. Saints are said to 
be the beloved of the Lord, and to enjoy the di- 
vine favor and protection, while with the wicked 
God is said to be angry, and their feet are said to 
stand upon slippery places. The same distinc- 
tion of character, and condition, are represented 
as existing in the future world. 

In proof, then, of the doctrine of future punish- 
ment we now call your attention, 

I. To the argument from those passages of 
scripture, which represent the future and final 
state of men in contrast. 

This contrast is drawn in our text. The final 
state of the saints is that of " Christ being glorified 
in them," of being " counted worthy of the king- 
dom of God," and of " admiring" and rejoicing 
in him at his coming, whom, not as yet having 
seen, they love : and the final state of the wicked, 
is that of experiencing the vengeance of Christ, 
and of being " punished with an everlasting de* 
st ruction." 

That our text refers to their future and final 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 121 

state is obvious, because it is spoken of as com- 
mencing at the day of judgment, designated by the 
terms, " that day" and by the terms, " when the 
Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his 
mighty angels, in flaming fire." 

Let a Universalist here choose his alternative ; 
let him say that the judgment referred to, in these 
words, is past, or let him admit that it is yet to 
come ; in either case, we are furnished with an 
unanswerable argument in favor of the doctrine of 
future punishment. If he admits that it is yet to 
come, he must give up his main position, that the 
wicked receive their punishment in this life ; and 
if he say it is past, then we are entitled to infer, 
for reasons which will present themselves to every 
reflecting mind, that if those who knew not God, 
and obeyed not the gospel of our Lord Jesus 
Christ before that period, deserved to be punished 
" with everlasting destruction," then those who 
know not God and obey not the gospel since that 
period, will deserve and receive the same punish- 
ment. But the passage cannot be construed, with 
any degree of plausibility, so as to make the bless- 
ings and judgments brought to view relate to the 
present world. If the doctrine of the future pun- 
ishment of the wicked, and the future happiness 
of the righteous, is not taught us in this passage, 
we know not in what words it can be taught. 

11 



122 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. / 

The future state and character of the righteous 
and the wicked, are further placed in contrast in 
the seventeenth Psalm, 14th, 15th verses. " De- 
liver my soul from the wicked which is thy sword; 
from men which are thy hand, O Lord, from men 
of the world, which have their portion in this life, 
and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid trea- 
sures : they are full of children, and leave the rest 
of their substance to their babes. As for me, I 
will behold thy face in righteousness : I shall be sa- 
tisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.'' It seems 
as if no one can help perceiving that these words 
look to the future and final state of man. David 
prays, indeed, for deliverance from men then flour- 
ishing, but he looks forward to a period when their 
life time should be past, when they should leave 
their portion and their substance here. The wick- 
ed " have all theti portion" of happiness " in this 
life." So said Abraham to Dives, " Remember, 
thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things." 
On the other hand, the portion of good men is in 
another life. " Then shall I be satisfied, when I 
awake with thy likeness." This has been the lan- 
guage of all good men from David to this day. 
The christian will never bear the perfect likeness 
of Christ, till " this vile body shall be fashioned 
into the likeness of Christ's glorious body." " It 
doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 123 

that when he shall appear we shall be like him."* 
In Prov. x. 28, we have the same contrast of 
state and character. " The hope of the righteous 
shall be gladness, but the expectation of the wick- 
ed shall perish." Such language cannot be re- 
conciled with the doctrine of universal salvation. 
It is not true, upon their hypothesis^ that the ex- 
pectation of the wicked shall perish. Their ex- 
pectation will issue in unbounded gladness. We 
are aware that it will be said, that their expecta- 
tion relates to the present life : then does the hope 
of the righteous ; for by the same process of rea- 
soning that you get quit of hell, you get quit of 
heaven. 

In Daniel xii. 2, where the final state of men, 
at the resurrection from the dead, is brought to 
view, we find them occupying states in perfect 
contrast. " Many of them that sleep in the dust 
of the earth shall awake ; some to everlasting life, 
and some to shame and everlasting contempt." 
It will perhaps appear incredible to many, that 
Universalists, to evade the force of this passage, 
say, that " sleeping in the dust of the earth is a 
common figure, used to express a degraded con- 
dition; and the resurrection is from this state." 
In support of this idea we are referred to Psalms 
cxiii. 7. " He raiseth the poor out of the dust," 

1 John iii. 2. 



124 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

and to Isaiah liii. 2. " Shake thyself from the 
dust." This passes among Universalists as an 
explanation of this passage. The word dust is 
used in the text, and it is also used in the other 
passages, therefore they mean the same thing. 
One can hardly avoid satirizing such a miserable 
attempt to avoid the obvious sense of a portion 
of holy writ. We will only say that there is a 
serious difficulty in the explanation. Sleeping in 
the dust, it is said, is a figure to express a degra- 
ded condition : some awake from this dust to 
shame and everlasting contempt. Is this awaking 
from the dust, or a degraded state ? Is it aivak- 
ing, for a man to pass from a common sleep to a 
dead lethargy ? Is it awaking, for a man to pass 
from a state of ordinary debasement into one that 
is everlasting ? It is impossible to reconcile the 
particular terms of the passage, with the general 
exposition. Awaking from the dust of degrada- 
tion, to shame and everlasting contempt ! But 
we will not dwell here. A mind that is capable 
of receiving this as a satisfactory explanation of 
the passage, is incapable of being impressed by 
argument. Sophistry may try her powers till she 
is bewildered, but the force of this passage against 
Universalism cannot be avoided, its sharp point 
cannot be blunted. The Jews themselves under- 
stand the passage, of the resurrection from the 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 125 

dead at the end of time. But even if, as a few 
suppose, it relates to the resurrection of some im- 
mediately subsequent to the resurrection of Christ, 
still the passage is equally decisive against the 
doctrine of universal salvation, for, the supposi- 
tion is, that some in this case, awake from their 
sleep in the dust of the earth to everlasting life, 
and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 

Let us now turn to the language of our Saviour 
in John v. 28, 29. " Marvel not at this : for the 
hour is coming in the which all that are in the 
graves shall come forth ; they that have done good 
unto the resurrection of life, and they that have 
done evil unto the resurrection of damnation." 
This language is so plain, and the meaning so ob- 
vious, as to defy any misconstruction ; at least, no 
evasion can be formed that will appear even plau- 
sible to a mind of common discernment. The 
only evasion we have known to be attempted, is 
that of connecting the first part of the twenty- 
fifth verse, with that of the twenty-eighth — u the 
hour is coming, and now is" The twenty-fifth 
verse reads thus, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, 
The hour is coming and now is, when the dead 
shall hear the voice of the Son of man, and they 
that hear shall live." These words were, both 
literally and spiritually, fulfilled during Christ's 

ministry on earth. They were literally fulfilled, 

11* 



126 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

in those whom Christ miraculously raised from 
the dead, as Jairus' daughter, the widow's son, 
and Lazarus. They were spiritually fulfilled., 
when the word of Christ " quickened those who 
were dead in trespasses and sins." The hour 
then was, for the dead, in both these senses, to 
hear the voice of Christ and live ; but the hour was 
not then, for all that are in their graves to hear his 
voice and come forth. Christ told the Jews not to 
marvel at the display of his power, of which he 
spake, as then taking place ; " for the hour," says 
he, " is coming in the which all that are in their 
graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth : 
they that have done good unto the resurrection of 
life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrec- 
tion of damnation." The time referred to, is the 
morning of the general resurrection ; and it is 
impossible not to see that our Saviour here teach- 
es the doctrine of a future state of happiness to the 
righteous, and of misery to the wicked. 

Let me now call your attention to several other 
passages which represent the future and final state 
of men in contrast. Matt. hi. 12. " Whose fan 
is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his 
floor, and gather the wheat into his garner, but he 
will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." 
His floor is the world, the wheat are the saints, 
the chaff are the wicked, his garner is heaven, and 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 127 

the unquenchable fire is the place of future pun- 
ishment. Nothing answering to the obvious 
sense of these words has, as yet, taken place. 
They look forward to a future state. 

In Matt. viii. 11, 12, men in the future world 
are represented as being in very different states, 
" And I say unto you that many shall come from 
the east and from the west, and shall sit down 
with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the king- 
dom of heaven. But the children of the king- 
dom shall be cast out, into outer darkness : there 
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Abra- 
ham, Isaac, and Jacob, were, at the time these 
words were uttered, in a holy and happy state. 
Many shall sit down with them in the kingdom of 
heaven. The children of the kingdom were the 
unbelieving Jews, who, up to that time, had con- 
stituted the kingdom of God, which was about to 
be taken from them and given to the Gentiles. 
These, in consequence of their unbelief, were to 
be cast into outer darkness. There is no oppor- 
tunity here for the usual play, of Universalists, up- 
on the term, " kingdom of heaven," Abraham, 
Isaac, and Jacob were not members of the gospel 
church on earth, they had entered upon their eter- 
nal state, and to that state the whole passage re- 
fers. 

The same truth is presented, in a very striking 



128 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

manner, in Matt. xiii. 36-43. " His disciples 
came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the pa- 
rable of the tares of the field. He answered and 
said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is 
the Son of man ; the field is the world ; the good 
seed are the children of the kingdom ; but the 
tares are the children of the wicked one ; the ene- 
my that sowed them is the Devil ; the harvest is 
the end of the world ; and the reapers are the an- 
gels. As, therefore, the tares are gathered and 
burned in the fire, so it shall be in the end of the 
world. The Son of man shall send forth his an- 
gels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all 
things that offend, and them that do iniquity, and 
shall cast them into a furnace of fire : there shall 
be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then shall 
the righteous shine forth as the sun in the king- 
dom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let 
him hear." In the forty-seventh and fiftieth vers- 
es of the same chapter, it is said, " The kingdom 
of heaven is like unto a net that was cast into the 
sea, and gathered of every kind, which when it 
was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and 
gathered the good into vessels and cast the bad 
away. So shall it be at the end of the world, the 
angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from 
among the just ; and shall cast them into the fur- 
nace of fire : there shall be wailing and gnashing 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 129 

of teeth." No man can misunderstand the mean- 
ing of our Lord in these words. He expressly 
tells us that these things shall take place at the 
end of the world. 

But the obvious sense of these passages cannot 
be retained by Universalists. It would annihilate 
their system. It would " pierce to the dividing 
asunder of soul and spirit." This sword of the 
Spirit must be blunted. But what can be done ? 
No one can be brought to believe in Universalism, 
unless this scripture is wrested. Only one mise- 
rable subterfuge however can be found, the very 
mention of which ought to be sufficient to con- 
vince any man, that Universalism can be sustain- 
ed only by wresting the scriptures." The term 
cuwvotf (aionos) rendered ivorld in our translation, 
sometimes means age, and instead of rendering 
the passage, " So shall it be at the end of the 
world," they render it, " So shall it be at the end 
of the age," that is, say they, at the end of the 
Jewish age, or economy. In reply to this quib- 
ble, we will drop a few brief remarks. 

1. It is readily admitted that aiwv, aion, often 
signifies age; that is, a long period or lapse of 
time; but does it therefore mean nothing else? 
Because the word spring, means an elastic sub- 
stance, does it therefore signify nothing else ? Be- 
cause the word box, means a coffer, or chest, has 



130 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

it therefore no other meaning ? Because the word 
world, means the earth, is it therefore never used 
in any other sense ? Because the words everlast- 
ing and forever, are sometimes used in a limited 
sense, are they therefore never used in an unlimit- 
ed sense ? We could bring forward numerous in- 
stances in which the word ouwv, axon, cannot be 
rendered age. It often means eternity, and it is 
used in many of the various senses in which we 
use the word world. 

2. No such separation as is spoken of in these 
passages, took place at the end of the Mosaic dis- 
pensation. 

3. The term aiwv, axon, is never used in refer- 
ence either to the Mosaic or the christian dispen- 
sation. It is used in reference to the different pe- 
riods of the world's existence, as of the past and 
the future, but not in relation to any particular 
economy. Not an instance can be adduced, in 
which aiwv, aion, has reference either to the Jew- 
ish or Christian dispensation, except as they are 
embraced in the periods of time referred to. 

4. If the term did relate to either economy, it 
would relate to the end of the Christian dispensa- 
tion, which would be at the " end of the world, " # 

# Numerous instances might be adduced in which aion is and should 
be rendered world. We will refer to a few. Heb. i. 2. Luke xvi. 8 
—xx. 34. Rom. xii. 2. 1 Cor. i. 20— ii. 6, 8. 2 Tim. iv. 10. Titus 
ii. 12. 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 131 

as in the text, and not at the end of the Jewish 
dispensation, for the Christian dispensation had 
then but just commenced, as you will see by turn- 
ing to Mark i. 1. 

Our Saviour is speaking in these passages, of 
the gospel in its various influences upon men. It 
is the gospel that he compares to a net ; and it is 
the good news of the gospel which is the seed the 
sower scattered. 

5. If then the term be rendered age, in these 
passages, the sense will remain the same as in our 
translation. " So shall it be at the end of the age" 
that is, at the end of time — the end of the age of 
the world. 

Such then, is the miserable evasion by which 
Universalists attempt to get quit of the force of 
these passages. Such a separation of mankind 
has never yet been made, nor such destinies allot- 
ted them, as is spoken of. 

In all the passages we have adduced, and in 
many others which might be brought forward, the 
future condition and character of mankind are 
placed in contrast. If the future happiness of 
the righteous and misery of the wicked are not 
meant in these passages, we shall not be able to 
find either the one or the other brought to view 
any where in the Bible. But it is most obvious to 
every sober mind that the final state of mankind is 



132 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE* 

referred to in the passages adduced : and as the 
state of the righteous and the state of the wicked, 
are placed in exact opposition to each other, we 
have the clearest possible proof of the truth of the 
doctrine under consideration— that the finally 
wicked will suffer endless misery. 

II. We now pass to consider the evidence aris- 
ing from those passages of scripture, which inti- 
mate that a change of heart and a preparation for 
heaven are confined to this life. 

What consistency would there be in represent- 
ing a change of heart and a preparation for heav- 
en as confined to this life, if all men would cer- 
tainly obtain such a preparation, and finally enjoy 
the blessings of salvation? But no ; the scriptures 
constantly urge the danger of failing to obtain such 
a preparation, and they intimate, in the strongest 
language, that if it is not obtained in this world it 
never can be. 

Universalists repudiate such a style of speaking. 
They never use it. It would create a smile among 
their hearers if they should ; for it is most obvious- 
ly inconsistent with their sentiments. Yet they 
know that some men do not obtain such a prepa- 
ration, for some die in the very act of mur- 
dering a fellow creature : still they believe, or pro- 
fess to believe, that such will be saved, and ascend 
to heaven with the victim of their vengeance. A 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 133 

Macbeth or a Richard III. are as certain candi- 
dates for heaven as a Stephen or a John. 

The scriptures frequently speak of a state of 
moral character, which, even in this life, is beyond 
the confines of mercy, — out of the stretch of God's 
saving grace : they speak of a state for which 
there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, — where 
God's " Spirit does not strive," and of a quality 
of sin " which hath never forgiveness." All, who 
have read their Bible, know that such is its lan- 
guage. But these things do not harmonize with the 
doctrine of universal salvation. Either there is 
no such state, or the doctrine of universal salva- 
tion is false. Aside from this state of judicial 
hardness and blindness, the mercy of God ex- 
tends to the limits of the present life. 

That there is a time, when, though men should 
seek God, he will not be found of them, is prov- 
ed by numerous passages of scripture. In Isaiah 
Iv. 6, it is written^ " Seek ye the Lord while he 
may be found, call ye upon him while he is near." 
If the Lord will always be found of those who 
seek him, why is it intimated that there is a time 
coming when he will not be found ? If he will 
always hear when we call for mercy, why is it 
intimated that there is a time when he will stand 
aloof from us, though we cry to him ? A prepa- 
ration for heaven is obtained by seeking and find- 

12 



134 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

ing the Lord, by striving, and by entering in at 
the strait gate. There is a time when such pre- 
paration cannot be obtained. Yet mercy is free 
and ample enough to those who seek it, within its 
prescribed limits. " Let the wicked forsake his 
way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts ; and 
let him return unto the Lord, and he will have 
mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will 
abundantly pardon." 

We see not how the force of these words, as 
bearing upon our subject, can be, even plausibly, 
evaded. The Prophet is speaking of spiritual 
mercies. He looks forward to gospel times, or 
rather he speaks in a gospel strain ; for unto them 
was the gospel preached, as well as unto us. It 
cannot be said that the Prophet is here speaking 
of a temporal deliverance. The whole context is 
against such a supposition. Besides, how can it 
be supposed that there is a time when God will 
not give a temporal salvation to certain characters 
who seek it, and that there is never a time when 
he will not give eternal salvation to all men, 
whether they seek it or not ? 

That a preparation for heaven is confined to 
this life, is very clearly stated by our Saviour, in 
Matt. xxv. 5-10. " While the bridegroom tar- 
ried they all slumbered and slept. And at mid- 
night there was a cry made, Behold the bride- 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 135 

groom cometh ; go ye out to meet him. Then 
all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 
And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of 
your oil, for our lamps are gone out. But the 
wise answered saying : Not so, lest there be not 
enough for us and you ; but go ye rather to them 
that sell and buy for yourselves. And while they 
went to buy, the bridegroom came, and they that 
were ready went in with him to the marriage : 
and the door was shut." It will be said that this 
is a parable. Be it so. Has a parable no mean- 
ing ? What is a parable ? Is it not an allegori- 
cal representation of truth ? — of something real in 
existence ? One great truth which it is the ob- 
ject of our Saviour here to impress upon our 
minds is, that there is a time when, if we are not 
prepared for heaven, it will be too late to make 
preparation ; and from our uncertainty when that 
period will arrive, he deduces the necessity of 
watchfulness. If our Saviour, in these words, 
does not teach us that there is a time when some 
who have neglected a preparation for heaven can- 
not obtain it, and consequently cannot enter in, 
w r e know not what is taught : nor can Ave conceive 
how this truth can be taught in a manner more 
plain and forcible. " They that ivere ready went 
in with him to the marriage" — the " foolish had 
no oil," no preparation. After the midnight cry 



136 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

they attempted to get ready and failed, — "the 
bridegroom came," and the sincerely pious enter- 
ed in, and " the door was shut." 

That no change of heart will ever be experienc- 
ed beyond this life, is clearly taught in Rev. xxii. 
11. " He that is unjust let him be unjust still: 
and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still : and 
he that is righteous let him be righteous still : and 
he that is holy, let him be holy still." We have 
abundant evidence, both from scripture and ob- 
servation, that in the present life, the unholy may 
become holy, and the filthy may become pure ; 
but, pass the bounds of this life, and all is fixed, 
and unchangeable. There never was, and never 
will be, in the eternal state, any such change of 
moral character, as will fit a man for the society, 
and business of heaven, " There is no work, nor 
device, nor wisdom, nor knowledge, in the 
grave. "# The grave here signifies a future state. 
It signifies, at least, an entrance upon that state. 
It is the line, at which the eternal state is joined 
to the present. Pass this line, and all is perma- 
nent and immutable. 

The general argument which we deduce from 
these passages, is this : If there is a time when the 
Lord will not be found of some who seek him ; 
if the door of acceptance will be closed against 

# Eccl. ix. 10. 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 137 

some ; if the accepted time is limited ; if a period 
is approaching when there can be no change of 
moral character, and the character of some will 
then be unholy and impure, then it follows that 
some will suffer punishment without end. 

To all these arguments one subtle objection has 
been made, which deserves a moment's attention. 
" These threatenings," it has been said, " are all 
the voice of the law, denouncing merely what sin- 
ners ought to suffer; but the gospel, notwithstand- 
ing, secures the salvation of all." To this it may 
be replied, that they are no more the voice of the 
law, than they are the voice of the gospel. With 
the same breath the gospel pronounces salvation 
to the believer, and damnation to the unbeliever. 
It speaks, in as fearful terms of vengeance to the 
finally impenitent, as does the law, to every trans- 
gressor; nay, its language is much more fearful. 
This you will perceive, if you give us your atten- 
tion, 

III. To some of those passages of scripture 
which foretell the consequences of rejecting the 
gospel. 

Those who reject the gospel pass judgment up- 
on themselves, that they are not worthy of eternal 
life. They put far away from them the only 
means, by which it can be obtained. This will 
be seen by turning to the Acts of the Apostles xiii. 

12* 



138 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 



46. " Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and 
said, It was necessary that the word of God 
should first have been spoken unto you : but see- 
ing ye put it far from you, and judge yourselves 
unworthy of everlasting life, lo we turn to the 
Gentiles." Did Paul and Barnabas speak in a 
spirit of fretf ulness ? or could they have been 
Universalists, and employ such language ? Could 
the Jews reject the only means of salvation, and 
yet be saved ? The consequence of their reject- 
ing the gospel, it is clearly intimated, was fatal to 
their eternal interests. 

Again, in the Acts, xxviii. 26-30, Paul em- 
ploys very similar language. " Well spake the 
Holy Ghost, by Esaias the prophet unto our fa- 
thers, saying, Go unto this people and say, Hear- 
ing ye shall hear, and shall not understand ; and 
seeing ye shall see, and not perceive ; for the 
heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears 
are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they clos- 
ed ; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear 
with their ears, and understand with their heart, 
and should be converted, and I should heal them. 
Be it known, therefore, unto you, that the salva- 
tion of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that 
they will hear it." The gospel is called the sal- 
vation of God, because it is a divine expedient for 
saving men, and because beside it there is no oth- 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 139 

er. The natural influence of rejecting it, is to 
blind the mind, and harden the heart, and fit men 
for destruction ; and such God purposes shall be 
the consequence of rejecting it. In 1 Cor. i. 18, 
Paul says, " The preaching of the cross, is to 
them that perish foolishness, but unto us who are 
saved it is the power of God." "We understand 
the apostle to communicate this thought : — Es- 
teeming and treating the gospeL as foolishness is 
the cause why many perish — destruction is both 
the natural, and legal consequence of such a 
course ; while, on the other hand, regarding it as 
the power of God, is the means of salvation. Re- 
garding the gospel as the power of God makes it 
become such indeed, because it opens the heart to 
its influence. 

In a very clear and alarming manner the con- 
sequence of rejecting the gospel, is set forth in 
2 Cor. ii. 15. " For we are unto God a sweet 
savor of Christ in them that are saved and in them 
that perish. To the one, we are the savor of 
death unto death, and to the other the savor of 
life t unto life.?' The sense of the passage is this : 
Rejecting the gospel is the cause of increasing spir- 
itual death here, unto eternal death hereafter ; 
and the cordial embracing of it, is the cause of 
spiritual life, which will be continued and increase 
unto everlasting life. The benevolence and mer- 



140 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

cy of God are seen in providing and offering sal- 
vation, both to those who reject it and perish, and 
to those who embrace it and are saved. Such 
language cannot be reconciled with the doctrine 
of universal salvation. 

For the terrible consequences of rejecting the 
gospel, we farther refer to 2 Thess. ii. 10. u Be- 
cause they received not the love of the truth that 
they might be saved; and for this cause, God 
shall send them strong delusion, that they should 
believe a lie ; that they all might be damned who 
believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unright- 
eousness." If we would be saved, we must open 
our hearts to the truth, and receive it in the love 
of it. It must not be rejected, because it is dis- 
tasteful ; it will beget in us a better taste and a 
better spirit. By obstinately rejecting it, we may 
provoke God, as the righteous governor of the 
world, to give us up to judicial blindness. It is 
our firm conviction that many confirmed Uiriver- 
salists are experiencing the terrible vengeance of 
the text under consideration. Having long cavil- 
ed at the truth, and trifled with it, and having la- 
bored to believe a system agreeable to their cor- 
rupt natures, God has " given them over to strong 
delusions, to believe a lie, that they might be 
damned." The case of such is utterly hopeless. 
They will continue to cry " peace, and safety," 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 141 

until "sudden destruction cometh upon them." 
The conviction of every Universalist, when he 
first turned his attention to Universalism, was that 
it was false, but in defiance of this conviction, 
and the plain teachings of scripture, some have 
wilfully cherished it, to quiet their fears, and 
soothe their apprehensions, until God has judicial- 
ly given them up to the belief of it. Surely it is a 
strong delusion. It is a pathway, cast up by the 
Master Spirit of evil, to lead immortal souls to 
ruin. 

The fearful consequence of trifling with truth is 
set forth in Heb. x. 26-30. " For if we sin wil- 
fully after that we have received the knowledge 
of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for 
sin : but a certain fearful looking for of judgment 
and fiery indignation, which shall devour the ad- 
versaries. He that despised Moses' law, died 
without mercy, under two or three witnesses ; of 
how much sorer punishment suppose ye shall he 
be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot 
the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of 
the covenant wherewith he was sanctified, an un- 
holy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit 
of grace. For we know him that hath said, Ven- 
geance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, 
saith the Lord." 

Again, in Heb. xii. 25. " See that ye refuse 



142 ARGUMENTS PROM SCRIPTURE. 

not him that speaketb. For if they escaped not, 
who refused him that spake on earth, much more 
shall not we escape, if we turn away from him 
that speaketh, from heaven: whose voice then 
shook the earth : but now he hath promised, Yet 
once more I shake not the earth only but also 
heaven." Is it to be supposed that God will 
speak to us in the manner he does^ — that all the 
day long he will stretch out his hand of mercy 
and warning to us,— and that, though we continue 
disobedient and gainsaying to the very last mar 
ment of our lives, he will not visit our iniqui- 
ty upon us ? Both conscience and scripture as* 
sure us that he will. Neither benevolence nor 
mercy requires that be should not. " Be not de- 
ceived, God is not mocked." 

We will refer to only one passage more : it is 
found in Heb. ii. 2, 3. " For if the word spoken 
by angels was steadfast, and every transgression 
and disobedience received a just recompense of 
reward : how shall we escape if Ave neglect so 
great salvation, which at the first began to be spo- 
ken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by 
them that heard him"? How shall we escape ? 
Can any tell ? Universalists say, that there is no* 
thing to escape from, beyond the present life. 
But many reject it through life and death: how 
shall they escape? Let us know of some that 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 143 

have escaped. Point us to one wicked man, 
whom the scriptures say was made holy and hap- 
py after deaths Point us to one sentence in the 
Whole book of God, in which it is intimated that 
those who neglect the great salvation, shall escape 
the wrath of God in a future world. Let us have 
a clear and feasible method of escape. 

What rational being can be satisfied with the 
contradictory, inconsistent, anti-scriptural, and 
anti-rational system of Universalism. The way to 
be saved, in scripture, is clear. No darkness ob- 
scures it. It is simple and plain. It is to embrace 
the gospel and obey it, — to repent and believe. 
But if we reject the gospel, if we refuse to receive it 
in the love of it, how shall we escape the righteous 
indignation of heaven ? This is the question. If 
we live and die in disobedience to the gospel, how 
shall we escape ? Go ask the Prophets, and the 
Apostles : go ask the angels, who admire the won- 
ders of redeeming mercy ; go ask the Saviour, 
who has bled and died for you, whether you may 
now refuse his salvation and turn a deaf ear to all 
his calls and warnings, with impunity, or with the 
risk of no other punishment than the inflictions of 
a conscience under the tuition of Universalism ? 
O, before you listen to a whisper of Universalism, 
before you indulge in any hope of escape from the 
pursuit of justice, before you enter this refuge of 



144 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

lies, go around and examine it well, and see that 
it is supported by such pillars of adamant as shall 
bid defiance to the strength of Omnipotence. 

The scriptures every where represent the gospel 
as the only means of salvation ; they constantly 
urge the danger of rejecting it, and represent the 
continued rejection of it as fatal to all our spirit- 
ual and eternal interests. Hence they who do so 
must necessarily and inevitably perish. In the 
words of the Apostle, they "judge themselves 
unworthy of everlasting life*" By their wilful im- 
penitence and unbelief, they make the " word of 
life" an instrument of " death unto death." The 
consequences of rejecting the gospel are clearly 
stated as stretching far beyond this life, into ano- 
ther world. It is a fact which cannot be disput- 
ed, that many do reject it until they enter upon 
their eternal state. How then can they be sav- 
ed ? 

Furthermore, as the gospel is the most signal 
display of the wisdom and benevolence of God, 
its rejection must involve the sinner in the deep- 
est guilt and condemnation. Hence the doom of 
the apostate and unbeliever is represented as the 
most severe and dreadful. " Light has come into 
the world ;" a light that makes manifest the hid- 
den things of darkness, that shows every lurking- 
place of the enemy, that exposes every snare and 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 145 

trap by which we are endangered, and that makes 
the strait and upward path, by which we may as- 
cend to dwell with God, as plain as the bow in 
the heavens. Now, to resist this light, to seek out 
some darkness, where we may hide ourselves and 
conceal our moral obliquities, must involve us in 
guilt, more deep and damning than that of the 
fallen angels. 

If God, at an expense which no arithmetic can 
compute, has cast up a way from earth to heaven; 
if he has bid us enter upon it by repentance and 
faith ; if all that he requires of us in order to our 
salvation, is that we cease to rebel, that we give 
him our hearts, that we believe and love his word ; 
in the name of all that is rational, we ask whether, 
if we refuse to heed his warnings and entreaties, 
and gratefully to accept of mercy on the terms 
proposed, any thing but frowns and indignation 
can await us in another world ? When the smoke 
of the torment of such shall ascend up forever, 
will there be any to dispute the justice and bene- 
volence of God? Will not all heaven sing 
"Amen ! Alleluia ?" And will not the justice of 
which they sing, find a cutting and mournful res- 
ponse, even in the bosoms of the damned ? 






13 



LECTURE VI. 



DIRECT ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE, TO PROVE THE 
DOCTRINE OF ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. 



John viii. 21. Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and 
ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins : whither I go, ye cannot 
come. 

When we insist on the truth of the doctrine of 
the eternal punishment of the wicked, it is difficult 
to convince some men that we do not desire their 
future misery. They often express their satisfac- 
tion that they are not to be judged by us, and re- 
joice that their destiny is not at our disposal : just 
as though, to take a parallel case, the insisting that 
death is the penalty for the crime of murder, is 
evidence incontestible that we wish our fellow 
men to suffer capital punishment. What has the 
truth of a position, or the insisting upon the truth 
of a position, to do with the affections of him who 
attempts the demonstration ? A man of very bad 
heart may believe and insist upon the truth that 



148 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

virtue is more productive of happiness than vice. 
But it is no evidence, either that he loves virtue, or 
is sincerely desirous that his fellow men may prac- 
tice virtue, and enjoy its reward. 

We do not insist that the doctrine of future pun- 
ishment is true, because we wish that men may ex- 
perience it in a future world. ^ Did we desire it, we 
think a much more certain way of accomplishing 
such a desire would be to cry, " Peace! peace !" 
and to insist that there is no danger. Were we 
to see a man very dangerously sick, would it be 
evidence that we wish him to die, that we insist 
upon the necessity of his doing something to save 
himself? Should we desire a fatal termination, 
would not the surer method be, to conceal from him 
the malignity of his disease, and persuade him that, 
without the aid of any remedy, nature would soon 
assume her wonted healthful operations ? Or, if 
a fatal pestilence were raging in a part of the 
country whither many of our neighbors are about 
to emigrate, would it appear that we wish them to 
become its victims, because we endeavor to dis- 
suade them from their intention to remove ? Most 
assuredly they only would manifest an unfeeling 
and hard heart, who should conceal the danger, 
and insist that no pestilence and death were there. 

We insist upon the truth of the doctrine of eter- 

* This truth is so simple as to appear strange in its statement. It 
is strange that we should be under the necessity of repeating it. 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 149 

rial punishment, because it is plainly a Bible doc- 
trine, and because the disbelief of it has ruined 
thousands, and may ruin thousands more. We 
insist upon it because we believe it to be a duty. 
It is the duty of every faithful minister to insist 
upon it ; like the good pastor, whose character is 
given by Dryden, who 

" Preach'd the joys of heaven, and pains of hell, 
And warn'd the sinner with becoming zeal, 
But on eternal mercy lov'd to dwell." 

We believe that the doctrine of future punish- 
ment is true ; but we also believe that no man is 
under any necessity of rebelling against God, and 
disobeying the gospel, and thus bringing upon 
himself everlasting destruction. We do not wish 
men to be saved in their sin. Indeed, such sal- 
vation is impossible, for sin, together with its ne- 
cessary results, is that from which Jesus Christ 
came to save us. No intelligent christian ever 
desired that a man dying in impenitency, might 
be received to heaven. Let them be " anathema 
maranatha," says Paul. 

God does not desire the destruction of any of 
the human family. He declares that he is not 
willing that any should perish, but that all should 
come to a knowledge of the truth and be saved. 
He has put forth the most powerful means to 
bring men to repentance, to break their love of 

13* 



150 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

sin, and turn their steps into the path of salvation. 
Hence he has declared, in the most solemn man- 
ner, that if men will not repent, believe, and obey 
the gospel, they shall " drink of the wine of the 
wrath of God, which is poured out without mix- 
ture into the cup of his indignation." We warn 
men of this, that they may, by a timely repent- 
ance, escape this awful destiny. No truth is more 
clearly stated in the Bible, and more frequently 
reiterated, than the endless punishment of the 
wicked ; what then can exceed the rash daring of 
those who deny it ? That the doctrine of univer- 
sal salvation has ever obtained belief among men 
professing to believe the Bible, is astonishing. 
The depravity of the human heart alone can ac- 
count for it. It is a dark evidence that men can 
believe almost, or quite, any thing which they 
wish to be true. Now, if men can believe in the 
doctrine of universal salvation, without the sha- 
dow of evidence to support it, we ask, if they 
ought not to be damned for not believing the 
truth, when it is supported by all the evidence that 
heaven itself can give ? 

In proceeding further to establish the doctrine 
of the endless punishment of the wicked, we will 
call your attention : 

I. To the argument founded on those passages of 
scripture which represent the punishment of some 
men as remediless, or which imply its eternity. 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 151 

Our text asserts plainly that some men shall 
die in their sins, and the twenty-fourth verse 
shows that all who continue to disbelieve in 
Christ, die in their sins, and that they never can 
come where Christ is. They must then perish 
eternally, for they cannot be saved, and not be 
where Christ is. Those who are saved will " be 
forever with the Lord": " The Lamb who is in 
the midst of the throne shall feed them, and lead 
them unto living fountains of waters." 

That the misery of the wicked, in another 
world, will be remediless, unmitigated, everlast- 
ing misery, is very forcibly set forth in Luke xvi. 
20-31. 

" There was a certain rich man, which was 
clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sump- 
tuously every day : and there was a certain beg- 
gar, named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate 
full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the 
crumbs which fell from the rich man's table : 
moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 
And it came to pass that the beggar died, and 
was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom : 
the rich man also died and was buried : and in 
hell he lifted up his eyes being in torments, and 
seeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom, 
and he cried and said, Father Abraham, have 
mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip 



152 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue ; 
for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham 
said, Son, remember that thou in thy life time re- 
ceivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus 
evil things : but now he is comforted, and thou 
art tormented. And beside all this, between us 
and you, there is a great gulf fixed : so that they 
who would pass from hence to you cannot ; nei- 
ther can they pass to us that would come from 
thence. Then said he, I pray thee, therefore, 
father, that thou wouldst send him to my father's 
house : for I have five brethren, that he may tes- 
tify unto them, lest they, also, come to this place 
of torment. Abraham said unto him, They have 
Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. 
And he said, Nay father Abraham ; but if one 
went unto them from the dead, they will repent. 
And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses 
and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, 
though one rose from the dead." 

It is necessary that we here notice the manner 
in which Universalists attempt to evade the force 
of these words. They say that the history given 
is a parable ; and that the rich man represents the 
Jews, the poor man the Gentiles, and the impas- 
sable gulf their prejudices. The whole therefore, 
they say, refers to the present life ; and, in fact 
according to Universalism, the Bible says nothing 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 153 

about the life to come. Whenever the misery of 
the wicked is brought to view in any passage, 
they always make it relate to the present time ; 
and there is not a passage, in the whole Bible, 
which speaks of the future happiness of the right- 
eous, where the misery of the wicked is not dis- 
tinctly recognized* 

That this pretended exposition of the Univer- 
salists is extravagantly chimerical, can very easily 
be shown. No similitude can be made to appear, 
between the history given by our Saviour, and 
the state of the Jews and Gentiles. We will 
show this in the briefest manner possible. The 
thoughts need only to be stated, without any am- 
plification or illustration, to show the absurdity of 
their pretended explanation. 

1. The Gentiles were never in any sense laid at 
the gate of the Jews, desiring to be fed, and actually 
eating of the crumbs which fell from their table. 
The only point in which the Jews were raised 
above many Gentile nations, was in having the 
" oracles of God committed to them." In con- 
sistency therefore with this pretended exposition, 
the " crumbs" which fell from their table, must 
signify their religious doctrines, which the Gen- 
tiles despised. 2. There never has been such a 
state of Jews and Gentiles, in the history of the 
world, as could be figured forth by the death here 



154 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

mentioned, and by its subsequent results. 3. 
The Jews have never desired the Gentiles to give 
them relief from pain, in any manner answering 
to the description given in the text. 4. Their 
prejudices have never, at any period, been such 
as could be set forth by the impassable gulf. Al- 
though their prejudices have been strong, yet both 
Jewish and Gentile prejudices have been conquer- 
ed in numerous cases. 5. The Jews have had 
no " five brethren," who have had Moses and the 
prophets. 6. At no period have the Jews thought 
that a mission of the Gentiles to others would be- 
nefit them ; indeed there are no others, for the 
whole human family are embraced under the 
names of Jews and Gentiles. Certainly, if our 
blessed Lord intended to represent, what Univer- 
salists say he intended, he was most unfortunate 
in his figures and phraseology. There is not the 
faintest resemblance between the history given, 
and the state of the Jews and Gentiles. 

There can be no doubt to any reflecting, un- 
prejudiced mind, that our Lord in these words in- 
tends to describe the state of the righteous and the 
wicked in a future world. Their life time is spo- 
ken of, as being past. " Abraham's bosom" was 
a figure familiar to the Jews, and represents a 
state of happiness in the invisible w r orld. The 
misery of the wicked, in a future world, is often 



ARGUxMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 155 

represented under the figure of fire. That there 
never will be any change in the condition of the 
wicked, nor any relief from their sufferings, is 
strikingly set forth by " the great gulf fixed,' 5 
which never has, and never can be, passed. It is 
impossible for the passage so to be wrested, as to 
set the mind, even of a Universalist, at quiet, when 
he reads it. 

Let us now turn our attention to some other 
portions of sacred scripture. In Matt. xii. 31, 32, 
it is solemnly said by our Saviour, that the sin 
against the Holy Ghost, " shall not be forgiven 
unto men, neither in this world, nor in the world 
to come. 5 ' If a man is never forgiven, he never 
can be saved; for there is no other remedy pro- 
vided, but forgiveness for Christ's sake, against all 
the tremendous curses " w T hich are written in the 
book of the law." 

In 1 John v. 16, it is said, " There is a sin unto 
death: I do not say he shall pray for it." It is 
certain that natural death is not intended, in these 
words ; for "it is appointed unto all men once to 
die." The second death is referred to, and the 
sin is, unquestionably, the sin against the Holy 
Ghost, which " hath never forgiveness.' 1 This 
sin is without remedy : even prayer, which is a 
means of God's appointing to procure pardon, is 
not to be made for it. 



156 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

Paul in his Epistle to the Hebrews, vi. 6, speaks 
of certain persons whom it is " impossible tore- 
new again to repentance," and whose " end is, to 
be burned." And in the tenth chapter and twen- 
ty-sixth verse he speaks of some, for whom there 
" remaineth no more sacrifice for sin." No man 
certainly can ever be saved without repentance, 
and without a sacrifice for sin. Now if they can- 
not be renewed to repentance in this world, they 
certainly cannot in a future world ; and if there 
can be no sacrifice for their sin here, there can be 
none there. If there ever should come a time 
when they could be renewed to repentance, or 
there should be instituted some sacrifice for 
their sin, then certainly there would be no 
truth in the words of the apostle. If there should 
come a time when they will be received to a holy 
and happy state, that will be their end, and it 
would not be true that their " end is to be burn- 
ed." 

In Philippians iii. 19, Paul says, also, of the 
M enemies of the cross of Christ," that their " end 
is destruction." If their end is destruction, then 
their destruction must be everlasting. The same 
thought is very impressively stated in Pro v. xxix. 
1. " He that being often reproved, hardeneth 
his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 157 

without remedy." When can there be an end to 
a destruction that is ivithont remedy ? 

In the second chapter of the Epistle of James, 
we are informed, with respect to him who show- 
eth no mercy, that " he shall have judgment with- 
out mercy." The Lord often chastens men in 
mercy to their souls. But to give judgment 
without mercy, is to give a judgment that can 
have no redeeming, sanctifying influence; and 
never at any period can be succeeded by salva- 
tion. 

In John iii. 36, we read, "He that believeth 
on the Son hath everlasting life : and he that be- 
lieveth not the Son shall not see life : but the 
Wrath of God abideth on him." The life which 
unbelievers shall not see, can mean nothing else, 
than the everlasting life of which believers have 
the earnest — the " life," to the fall and perfect 
enjoyment of which, " they which have done 
good," shall be raised at the last day. And if 
they shall not see life, then the second death 
must be their portion forever. Never shall a drop 
of " the water of life" cool their tongue, a breath 
of heaven's living atmosphere shall never fan them, 
and not a pulsation of heaven's joy shall ever in- 
vigorate and cheer them ; within ken of heaven 
they shall never come, except it be to see the 
consummate folly of their invincible rebellion and 

14 



158 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

unbelief. In the text, to " see," means to enjoy, 
or possess. 

Without multiplying passages of scripture on 
this point, which we might do to a great extent, 
let it be observed ; if there are some, for w T hom 
Christ refuses to intercede, some who " shall not 
be forgiven," but are obnoxious to eternal damna- 
tion, some whose " sin is unto death" and must 
not be prayed for, some whom it is " impossible 
to renew to repentance," who are " nigh unto 
cursing," whose " end is to be burned," some 
who " draw back unto perdition," who lose their 
own souls, or are cast away, for whom it had 
been good if they had not been born, then there 
are some who will suffer eternal punishment, for 
all these phrases imply it. Furthermore, if there 
be a hell, a " fire that never shall be quenched, 
where their worm dieth not and their fire is not 
quenched"; if between this dread abode and the 
world of bliss, there be an impassable gulf: if 
they who believe not the Son of God, shall not 
see life, but the wrath of God abideth on them ; 
if they die in their sins, and where Christ is gone, 
they cannot come ; if they shall have judgment 
without mercy, and their end is destruction, then 
there are some who will suffer endless punish- 
ment. 

II. Although we have referred to much more 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 159 

scripture than would seem sufficient to convince 
any sober, inquiring mind of the truth of the doc- 
trine of endless punishment, yet we will briefly 
notice a few passages which apply the terms " ev- 
erlasting," " eternal," " forever," and " forever 
and ever," to future punishment. 

In Daniel xii. 2, it is written, that " many shall 
awake to shame and everlasting contempt." In 
Matt, xviii. 8, Ave read, " It is better for thee to 
enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having 
two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting 
fire.' : The " everlasting fire" is here and in the 
forementioned text, put in opposition to " life." 
If, therefore, endless torment is not meant in the 
one case, endless life is not meant in the other. 
That must be a horrible system which, to avoid 
the conclusion of there being an endless punish- 
ment, has also to avoid the conclusion of there be- 
ing an endless life. In Matt. xxv. 41, we read, 
" Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting 
fire.' : Again, in 2 Thessalonians i. 19, we read, 
"Who shall be punished with everlasting destruc- 
tion." In Mark hi. 29, it is said, that they who 
blaspheme against the Holy Ghost are " in dan- 
ger of eternal damnation:" and in 2 Peter ii. 17, 
it is said, that for the wicked " is reserved the 
mist,' : or blackness, as it may be rendered, " of 
darkness forever." " Mist, or blackness of dark- 



160 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

ness," is a strong figure, employed to represent 
the doleful and hopeless condition of the wicked, 
which is to be continued without end. In Rev. 
xiv. 11, it is said, "And the smoke of their tor- 
ment ascendeth up forever and ever" These 
words evidently refer to the punishment of the 
wicked in a future state, for they are put in oppo- 
sition to the future happiness of the righteous, in 
the fifteenth verse, where it is written, "And I 
heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, write, 
Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, from 
henceforth : Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may 
rest from their labors, and their works do follow 
them." In Rev. xix. 3, the heavenly host are re- 
presented as praising God for punishing the wick- 
ed : "And again they said, Alleluia. And her 
smoke rose up forever and ever" Babylon, which 
is here spoken of, mystically represents Antichrist, 
the great head of opposition to the church of God. 
It is composed of human beings, and the context 
plainly shows that the whole refers to a future 
state, and the terms clearly indicate that that state 
will be endless. Once more ; in Rev. xx. 10, it 
is written, "And the devil that deceived them was 
cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the 
beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tor- 
mented day and night forever and ever" "We will 
refer you to only one passage more. It is found 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 161 

in Matt. xxv. 46, " These shall go away into ever- 
lasting punishment, but the righteous into life eter- 
nal." Here again the punishment of the wicked 
is put in opposition with the happiness of the 
righteous ; and the same term is employed in the 
original Greek, to express the duration of the one 
as is employed to express the duration of the 
other. It is aionion punishment, and aionion life. 
It is the same term which is employed in 2 Cor. 
iv. 17, 18, to express eternal happiness and eter- 
nal things. " For our light affliction, which is 
but for a moment, worketh for us a far more ex- 
ceeding and eternal, aionion, weight of glory ; 
while we look not at the things which are seen, 
but at the things which are not seen ; for the 
things which are seen are temporal, but the things 
which are not seen are eternal, aionia." No one 
will dispute that the terms here used mean an end- 
less duration ; but it is equally plain that they 
mean the same thing in the other passages. The 
same term is employed to express the eternity of 
God. Ronuxvi. 26. " According to the com- 
mandment of the everlasting, aionion, God." 1 
Tim. vi. 16, in speaking of God it is said, " To 
whom be honor and power everlasting, aionion, 
amen." If the term aionios does not mean end- 
less duration, when applied to the punishment of 
the wicked, it does not, for the same reason, mean 

14* 



162 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

endless duration when applied to the happiness of 
the righteous, or to the existence of God. If no 
one will dispute that it means endless duration 
when applied to the latter, why should it be dis- 
puted that it means endless duration when applied 
to the former ? 

There is no mode of interpretation, or argu- 
ment, that can be employed to disprove the end- 
less punishment of the wicked, in the passages 
brought forward, which we cannot use in the same 
manner to disprove the endless happiness of the 
righteous. There is not a passage of scripture, 
which we bring forward to prove the future and 
endless punishment of the wicked, to which, we 
cannot bring forward a parallel passage, to prove 
the future and eternal happiness of the righteous. 
Let then a Universalist take any, or all, of the 
passages we adduce to prove the future, and end- 
less punishment of the wicked, and show that fu- 
ture and endless punishment is not proved by 
them, and Ave will take any, or all of the passages 
brought forward to prove the future and endless 
happiness of the righteous, and show, by their 
mode of reasoning, that future and endless happi- 
ness is not proved by them. If their manner of 
reasoning is correct, and there is no hell, or place 
of future punishment, then there is no heaven, or 
place of future happiness. If, for example, aio- 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 163 

nion punishment is not future and endless, then 
aionion life is not future and endless : and if, 
when it says that the " end of the wicked is, to 
be burned," or, their " end is destruction," fu- 
ture and endless punishment is not meant, then, 
when it says of the righteous, that they " have 
their fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting 
life," their future and endless happiness is not 
meant. If the final end is not meant in the one 
case, then the final end is not meant in the other 
case. 

Of the passages which we have brought for- 
ward, we would observe, that the terms used, are 
as strong as any in the Greek language, to ex- 
press endless duration. Though they are some- 
times used hyperbolically for a limited duration, 
there is nothing in this case which requires them 
to be limited. There is not a term in our own 
language which expresses endless duration, but 
what is sometimes, by a strong figure, used to sig- 
nify a limited period : but who would conclude 
from hence, that they always mean a limited 
time ? The sound rule of interpretation is al- 
vjays to give a ivord its usual and proper signifi- 
cation^ unless there be something in the context, 
or in the nature of the subject itself, to indicate 
that it is used in a different sense. "When the 
terms, " forever and ever," are used in relation 



164 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

to this life they mean as long as this life lasts, and 
when used in relation to a future life, they mean 
as long as that life lasts, which is unending. The 
antithesis which occurs in several of the passages 
adduced, fixes the meaning beyond all rational 
doubt. If the Spirit of God has chosen the same 
terms to express the duration of future punishment, 
which he employs to denote the duration of future 
felicity, he would certainly have us understand 
the two states to be coextensive in duration. 

We have now come to the conclusion of our 
direct arguments from scripture on this subject. 
We have attempted to prove the doctrine of fu- 
ture and endless punishment, from numerous pas- 
sages of scripture which fairly imply it ; from the 
promises of God ; from those passages which de- 
clare that certain sinners shall not enter into the 
kingdom of heaven ; from those passages which 
represent the future state of men in contrast; from 
those passages which represent sinners as in dan- 
ger of eternal punishment ; from those passages 
which represent a change of heart, and a prepa- 
ration for heaven, as confined to this life ; from 
those passages which foretell the consequences of 
rejecting the gospel; from those passages which 
represent the punishment of sinners as remediless, 
or which imply its eternity ; and from those pas- 
sages which apply the terms " forever," " eter- 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 165 

nal," " everlasting," and " forever and ever," to 
the punishment of the wicked. 

Who that is not bent on his own destruction 
can resist this mass of evidence ? Can any doc- 
trine be made more prominent and perspicuous ? 
How can it be done ? Is any law in our statute 
books defined with so much clearness ? "Who 
can desire to have a truth made more simple and 
plain ? What guilt, what accumulated, what ag- 
gravated guilt, must rest on the head of him, who, 
in defiance of u line upon line," in defiance of 
the reiterated and solemn asseverations of Jeho- 
vah upon this subject, presumes to teach the doc- 
trine of universal salvation ? " O my soul, come 
thou not into their secret, and unto their assembly 
mine honor, be not thou united." 

But not only do they peril their souls who 
teach it, but they likewise peril their souls who 
give heed to it. The belief of it, if persisted in, 
is a damning unbelief of the truth of God. Not 
only will the watchmen perish, who refuse to give 
the people warning when they see the sword 
coming ; — who refuse to say to the wicked, thou 
shalt surely die, but they likewise, who suffer 
themselves to be seduced by them. It is no light 
thing to cast behind our backs, established and 
eternal truths. 

" The lion hath roared, who will not fear ? the 



166 ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 

Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophecy"? 
As a faithful watchman upon Zion's walls we tell 
you that we see the sword of justice lifted up. 
The day of wrath is approaching, — " great day of 
dread decision." The wrath of God is already 
" revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteous- 
ness of men." Sentence has gone forth against 
every evil work. Be persuaded then to " escape 
for your life," to " him who is able to save to the 
uttermost." In the language of the sainted 
Watts, 

" Sinners, awake betimes : ye fools, be wise ! 
Awake before that dreadful morning- rise ; 
Change your vain thoughts, your sinful works amend, 
Fly to the Saviour, make the Judge your friend. " 

Go to him as you are, wretched, and miserable ; 
go to him penitent, and contrite, and he will re- 
ceive you, and speak comfortably unto you, and 
give you a name and a place in his house better 
than that of sons and of daughters ; and when the 
Storm of his wrath shall be poured out without 
mixture upon his enemies, and " the hail shall 
sweep away the refuge of lies," in him you shall 
find a sure "covert from the storm." Say not 
that the sayings of the Bible are dark, — that the 
gospel is hid. The blind may see, if they will 
open their eyes, and the deaf may hear, if they 
will unstop their ears, " Conspicuous as the 



ARGUMENTS FROM SCRIPTURE. 167 

brightness of a star," over the entrance way 
which conducts to heaven, " stand the soul-quick- 
ening words, Believe and live ," and also the soul- 
appaling sentence, " He that believeth not shall 
be damned." 



LECTURE VII. 



THE POSITION, ASSUMED BY UNIVERSALISTS, THAT THE 
WICKED RECEIVE ALL THEIR PUNISHMENT IN THIS LIFE, 
DISPROVED. 



Luke xvi. 25. Son, remember that thou in thy life time receivedst 
thy good things. 

Mutability and inconsistency are striking fea- 
tures in the character of Universalism. It has no 
ancient land-marks, — no well defined and settled 
principles. It is not now what it once was. It 
is not the same in all places. With a little world- 
ly wisdom, it adapts itself, to a certain extent, to 
the prevailing tastes, and even the religious preju- 
dices of the community where it is located. It 
has even pretended to revivals, and maintained 
prayer meetings for a short season; and then 
again, both have been the butt of its ridicule. 

That it is an angel of darkness, however, and not 

15 



170 WICKED PUNISHED IN" 

of light is ever manifest. It hardly deserves the 
name of a system, because with the exception of 
the single dogma, that all men will be saved, it 
consists principally in denying and decrying what- 
ever is maintained as sacred by evangelical chris- 
tians. The principal strength of its advocates is 
spent in efforts to prove, that what the Bible as- 
serts as truth, is not true ; or, in other words, to 
prove that those passages of scripture, which as- 
sert that the wicked shall be punished in a future 
world, mean no such thing. 

The arguments by which they endeavor to sus- 
tain the position, that all men will be saved, are 
various. But they destroy by the one, what they 
attempt to prove with the other. It is not a " bo- 
dy fitly joined together, and compacted by that, 
which every joint supplieth." It is not a building 
of symmetrical proportions, which has regularly 
advanced, like the temple of Solomon, without 
the sound of ax or hammer, as truth has been 
more clearly developed, and made manifest the 
hidden things of darkness. Its arguments, like 
the materials of Nebuchadnezzar's image, do not 
adhere, nor strengthen each other. Inconsistency 
is as prominent a mark of falsehood, as harmony 
is of truth ; and no system of error bears this 
mark more broadly on its front than Universalism. 
Its devotees are " children tossed to and fro, and 



THE FUTURE WORLD. 171 

carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the 
sleight of men and cunning craftiness whereby 
they lay in weight to deceive." Sometimes its 
advocates have maintained the divinity of Christ, 
and the efficacy of his atonement, and sometimes, 
that sin is not such an evil, as to require the sacri- 
fice of the coequal Son of God. Sometimes they 
maintain, that it is not consistent with the bene- 
volence of the Deity, to punish men in a future 
world, and that men dying in the very act of high- 
handed rebellion, are saved ; and then again, they 
contend that men are punished according to their 
deserts in this world, so that benevolence saves 
them from no deserved punishment. When they 
found their argument for salvation, upon the effi- 
cacy of the atonement, they, impliedly at least, 
acknowledge that man deserves to be punished in 
a, future state ; and when they maintain that all 
men will be saved, because they are in this life, 
punished according to their deserts, they reject 
the atonement, and deny its efficacy. 

Our object in this lecture, will be to disprove 
the position, assumed by Universalists, that wicked 
men receive in this life, all the punishment which 
w T ill ever be inflicted on them. 

In accomplishing this object, we shall call your 
attention to several plain and obvious truths. 

I. We observe, that the penalty of the divine 



172 



WICKED PUNISHED IN 



law must be proportioned to the good to be secur- 
ed by it. The good sense of every man will read- 
ily perceive the correctness of this remark. All 
good and wholesome laws are based upon this 
general principle. Legislators may mistake the 
amount of good to be secured ; or, that may be 
regarded in one state or age as a great good, 
which, in another state or age, may be viewed in 
a very different light ; but the intention always is, 
to proportion the penalty to the amount of good 
which the law aims to secure. Hence the differ- 
ent degrees of punishment, inflicted for different 
offences. As the security of life, is the greatest 
good which human law aims to secure, the ex- 
treme penalty, death, is set to guard the infraction 
of that law. If capital punishment were the pe- 
nalty for stealing a penny, or five years' imprison- 
ment the penalty for cold blooded murder, the 
general sense of mankind would rebel against it. 
Bat, in taking " life for life," the penalty is so just- 
ly proportioned to the offence, that the wisest and 
best men, pronounce it salutary and wholesome. 

The good which the divine law aims to secure, 
is no less than the glory of God, and the everlast- 
ing happiness of innumerable intelligences. It is 
an infinite good ; hence, an infinite penalty is set 
to guard it. It is easy to perceive that the laws 
of God are designed to secure great good, but 



THE FUTURE WORLD. 173 

when we carry our minds forward, we are lost in 
view of the amazing glory and happiness which 
would result from perfect obedience. So, on the 
other hand, though we cannot fully calculate it, 
we readily perceive that an overwhelming amount 
of evil would result from unrestrained rebellion. 
God's laws, then, require the greatest possible se- 
curity, and it seems as if every reflecting mind 
must readily perceive that endless punishment is 
such security; and that it is a penalty justly pro- 
portioned to the offence. Under the influence of 
the thought, that the miseries of this life, is all the 
punishment which will result from transgression, 
men are emboldened to sin ; and the fallacy, that 
wicked men will be punished for a limited period 
in a future world, does not begin to exercise the 
restraining influence of the doctrine of endless 
misery. Many candid men have acknowledged, 
that if they believed in the doctrine of future pun- 
ishment, they never could rest for a single mo- 
ment in an unconverted state. Lord Boling- 
broke, himself an infidel, acknowledges the cor- 
rectness of these views, and says, that if for no 
other reason, than its restraining influence upon 
society, he would advocate the doctrine of end- 
less misery.. That the penalty of the divine law 
ought to be such, as shall exercise a powerfully 

restraining influence, every one must perceive; 

15* 



174 WICKED PUNISHED IN 

that the doctrine of endless misery does exercise 
such an influence, no one need doubt; and we 
may therefore see the wisdom and goodness of 
God, in instituting such a penalty. 

It may be said that the gospel removes the 
curse of the law, and proclaims a universal pardon 
to the whole human family. If, indeed, it did, it 
would be an acknowledgement on the part of the 
Deity, that he was unwise and unmerciful in af- 
fixing such a penalty to the law. But no ; the 
gospel is a divine expedient for saving- the peni- 
tent believer from the dominion of sin, and from 
eternal death. It is designed to secure the same 
holy and happy influences as the law. It estab- 
lishes, magnifies, and makes honorable the law. 
It has, also, the same penalty affixed. He, there- 
fore, who despises, and disobeys the gospel, dou- 
bly deserves eternal damnation. 

The miseries of sinners in this life, are not the 
penal sufferings of the law. Sentence against an 
evil work is not so speedily executed. The sin- 
ner is not yet arrested. He is not bound or im- 
prisoned. He is still at large. Life and death 
are set before him. The miseries of sinners here 
are inseparably connected with their character 
and state, but the penal sanction of the law is re- 
served for another world. If the unhappiness of 
the wicked here, is all the punishment of sin, then 



THE FUTURE WORLD. 175 

we ought to conclude that the joy of believers 
here, is the end of their faith. If evil doing and 
impenitence carries along with it its own punish- 
ment, and all its punishment, then, by parity of 
reasoning, well doing and faith must carry along 
with it its reward, and all its reward. 

If a criminal, about to be sentenced to death 
for the crime of murder, were asked what he had 
to say why the sentence of the law should not 
pass, would it avail him to say, that he had already 
suffered sufficiently for his crime, — that when 
he contemplated it, before the commission, he was 
miserable, — as soon as he had committed it, he 
was horrified, — when he was endeavoring to se- 
cure the body of his victim, his slightest movement 
sounded like the voice of thunder, — that when flee- 
ing from the finished task of death, the shaking of 
every leaf seemed like the pursuit of damning jus- 
tice, — and that ever since, he had been a stranger 
to peace, and, neither within or without, had seen 
any thing but terrifying frowns, or heard any 
thing but cries for vengeance ? At such a plea 
would justice drop her sword, and smiling, say, 
" Set the prisoner free"? All this has nothing to 
do with the sentence of the law, or rather the 
sentence of the law has nothing to do with this. 
This is the misery of sin, not its punishment. This 



176 WICKED PUNISHED IN 

is but the taste of the poison, — its work of death is 
yet to be done. 

Every one will perceive the application of these 
remarks to our subject. The miseries of sinners 
in this life, so far from being the penal sanctions 
of the law, and the gospel, are the natural and in- 
separable fruits of sin ; just as the assassin is mis- 
erable, both while contemplating, and after the 
commission of his crime ; yet the law mitigates 
none of its rigors, more than if he performed his 
deed in perfect peace. The sentence of God's 
law is not executed upon sinners in this life. Our 
argument is this. A hundred years of greater 
unhappiness than any human being ever expe- 
rienced in this life, would not constitute a penalty 
proportioned to the infinite good which God's law 
and gospel are designed to secure ; and that al- 
though many sinners are very miserable in this 
life, yet their miseries are the natural results of 
sin, and not the result of the sentence of God's 
law. 

II. It is not true, in point of fact, that the wick- 
ed are punished, in this life, according to the de- 
merit of their offences. 

It is true that many wicked men are very mise- 
rable all their life time, but it is also true that ma- 
ny are very happy all their life time ; if sensual 
gratification, and carnal mirth, can be called hap- 



THE FUTURE WORLD. 177 

piness. Such, however, is all the happiness they 
desire ; they prefer it vastly to the pleasures 
which flow from God's presence. They prosper 
in the house and in the field, in basket and in 
store. They spend their lives in what one wick- 
ed man, upon his death bed, said his had been, — 
" A splendid dream." No cloud settles upon 
them, no enemy crosses their path, no unsatisfied 
earthly desire presses upon them. Their health 
is firm, their property secure, and their means of 
gratification diversified and accessible at all times. 
We speak of carnal happiness and worldly pros- 
perity. " I have seen the wicked," says David, 
"in great power, and spreading himself like a 
green bay tree ; yet he passed away, and lo he 
was not. ?: Yes, he passed away. He could not 
escape the power of death, But till then, he 
prospered, — he suffered no punishment. Again 
in the seventy-third Psalm, he says, " I was envi- 
ous at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of 
the wicked. For there are no bands in their 
death, and their strength is firm. They are not 
troubled as other men ; neither are they plagued 
like other men. Therefore pride compasseth 
them about as a chain, and violence covereth 
them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with 
fatness ; they have more than heart could wish. 
They are corrupt ; and speak wickedly concern- 



178 WICKED PUNISHED IN 

ing oppression ; they speak loftily. They set 
their mouth against the heavens ; and their tongue 
walketh through the earth. Therefore his people 
return hither ; and the waters of a full cup are 
wrung out to them : and they say, How doth 
God know ? and is there knowledge in the Most 
High ? Behold these are the ungodly, who" are 
punished? no ; u who prosper in the world : they 
increase in riches," If David had believed that 
the ungodly receive all their punishment in this 
life, would he have spoken thus ? For awhile he 
was envious toward them, when he saw their pros- 
perity, "When he looked only at the present life, 
they appeared to have the decided advantage of 
the godly. In the sanctuary of God, however, 
he learned their end, and the enigma of their pros- 
perity was solved. There, a light was cast upon 
their future state, which convinced him, that not- 
withstanding the afflictions of the righteous, their 
condition was vastly preferable. But, in this life, 
the wicked had none of the inward conflicts of the 
righteous, — conscience gave them no trouble, — 
and even in death, they had " no bands, and their 
strength was firm." Believing, probably, that 
there was no state of future punishment, they laid 
down and died under the influence of a damning 
hope. It appears to be a fact, as fully establish- 
ed as any other fact whatever, that, in this life, 



THE FUTURE WORLD. 179 

the wicked are not punished according to their 
deserts. We are not however to understand Da- 
vid as speaking of all the wicked, but of a certain 
class only. Some wicked men are indeed wretch- 
ed through life. But if it is true of any class of 
wicked men, that they do not receive their pun- 
ishment in this life, the position of Universalists 
is untenable. The most wretched are receiving 
only an earnest of their future punishment, just as 
the joys of the righteous are an earnest of their fu- 
ture reward. 

Ill, The righteous often suffer much more in 
this life than the wicked. 

The lives of some of the primitive christians 
was one continuous scene of bodily suffering. 
" They had trials of cruel mockings and scourg- 
ings, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonment : 
they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were 
tempted, were slain with the sword : they wander- 
ed about in sheep-skins and goat-skins ; being 
destitute, afflicted, tormented, (of whom the world 
was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts and 
in mountains, in dens and in caves of the earth. " # 

All this while many of the ungodly, their most 
bitter enemies, were living in peace, were seated 
upon thrones, and dwelling in palaces, and com- 
manding every resource of earthly pleasure. In 

# Heb. xi. 36-3S. 



180 WICKED PUNISHED IN 

the representation which our Saviour gives, of the 
present and future condition of the righteous and 
the wicked in the account of the rich man and 
Lazarus, these remarks are fully justified. The 
pious Lazarus was extremely poor and distressed* 
His sufferings, according to the account given of 
them, must have been exceedingly great and ag- 
gravated ; while the wicked rich man had more 
than heart could wish, and drank deeply of every 
cup of earthly pleasure. " Son," says Abraham 
in our text, " remember that thou in thy life time 
receivedst thy good things,"— not thy punishment. 
It was the pious Lazarus who, in this life, receiv* 
ed his evil things. Universalists perceive the 
force and bearing of this account, given by our 
Saviour, against the foundation and whole struc- 
ture of their miserable refuge of lies. Hence they 
have made some feeble, but inefficient attempts, 
to explain it away. This we have attended to, 
and we will only here observe, that the explana- 
tion which they give is so far-fetched, so inconsis- 
tent, so contrary to the obvious design of our Sa- 
viour, and so inapplicable to the text itself, that it 
seems as if it could have no influence upon any, 
except those who wish to be deceived. 

In addition to the bodily sufferings of the right- 
eous, they have many spiritual conflicts and trou- 
bles, which embitter their life, and make them go 



THE FUTURE WORLD. 181 

mourning from day to day. Hence it is said of 
them, when they have finished their course, and 
entered into rest, that " the days of their mourn- 
ing are ended." Their days, in this life, are days 
of mourning. It is true that they have many joys 
and rich consolations in all their afflictions : but 
all I wish to show is, what indeed is very obvious, 
that the righteous often suffer much more in this 
life than the wicked. And this being so, very 
clearly proves the position to be false, that " the 
wicked have all their hell in this life." 

IV. It will be said that the righteous have 
peace of conscience, which the Avicked have not ; 
and that the punishment of the wicked consists of 
inward horrors and remorse. 

We will examine this. Does the punishment 
of the wicked consist in remorse of conscience ? 
Then they do not receive their punishment in this 
life ; for the most desperately wicked have little or 
no remorse of conscience. In many cases, the 
more wicked a man is, the less remorse of con- 
science he has ; so that the more wicked a man is, 
the less punishment he has, upon the principle 
that the punishment of the wicked consists in re- 
morse of conscience. In Titus i. 15, the apostle 
says, "Unto them that are defiled and unbeliev- 
ing is nothing pure ; but even their mind and 
conscience is defiled." In 1 Timothy iv. 1, 2, 

16 



182 WICKED PUNISHED IN 

Paul says, " In the latter times some shall depart 
from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and 
doctrines of devils ; speaking lies in hypocrisy ; 
having their conscience seared with a hot iron" 
" Sin," says Jeremy Taylor, " is first easy, then 
pleasant, then agreeable, then delightful, then the 
man is impenitent, then he is obstinate, then he 
resolves never to repent, and then he is damned." 
It is a fact well understood, that the frequent re- 
petition of sin deadens the conscience. Hence the 
oft repeated remark, concerning bold offenders, 
that they have no conscience. Sin first deceives, 
and then, in the process of commission, it hard- 
ens.*' 

How, in view of these facts, can it be said that 
the punishment of the wicked consists in remorse 
of conscience, and that they have that remorse in 
the present life ? A man may, by becoming wick- 
ed enough, deliver himself from all punishment of 
this kind. Individuals, by repeated acts of mur- 
der, have so seared their consciences, that they 
have taken the lives of their fellow creatures with- 
out a single twinge. On the supposition, how- 
ever, that the punishment of the wicked consists in 
remorse of conscience, and that that punishment 
is dealt out to them in this life, the more wicked 
a man is, the more remorse of conscience he 

Heb. iii. 13. 



THE FUTURE WORLD. 183 

would feel. But it is otherwise. More sin pro- 
duces less punishment, if punishment consists in 
remorse of conscience here ; and less sin produces 
more punishment. This is so true, that no man 
would dispute it, for a single moment, except, as 
in the present case, it were brought to bear with 
deadly aim against a cherished system. 

No doubt, in another world, the wicked will 
experience great horror of conscience. It is, per- 
haps, the worm that never dies. But they will 
then be in very different circumstances, and there 
will be found none of those means for quieting the 
conscience, that are found in the present state. 

V. We remark, that the assumption, that all 
men receive the punishment their sins deserve, in 
the present life, is a plain denial of the mercy of 
God. 

Mercy is that kindness, which disposes a being 
to overlook injuries ; or to treat offenders better 
than they deserve. But the position assumed by 
Universalists is, that God punishes men in the pre- 
sent life according to their deserts : then there is 
no mercy exercised towards them. When a man 
is punished in proportion to his offence, there is 
no mercy in setting him at liberty. If it is said 
that they are not fully punished according to their 
deserts, — that a part of their punishment is remit- 
ted ; we ask on what ground, or principle, a part 



184 WICKED PUNISHED IN 

is remitted ? If it is said, that it is an act of God's 
mercy ; we ask then, why in mercy does he not 
save them from all punishment ? If he can, con- 
sistently with his law and government, in the exer- 
cise of mere mercy, remit a part of the punish- 
ment, he can, on the same principle, remit the 
whole ; and to say the least, he is not so merciful 
as he might be, not to do it. If it is said that a 
part of their punishment is remitted, by virtue of 
the atonement of Christ ; we ask again, why, on 
the same ground, does he not remit the whole ? 
The assumption in this case, must be, that a part 
of their punishment is remitted on the ground of 
the atoning sacrifice of Christ, while men are yet 
impenitent and unbelieving : for the ground taken 
by all orthodox churches is, that God, through the 
atoning sacrifice of Christ, will not only forgive a 
part, but all the sins of those who repent and be- 
lieve. If, on any principle whatever, God can 
consistently save men from a part of the punish- 
ment due to sin, while they remain in impenitency 
and unbelief, he can, on the same principle, save 
them from all the punishment, and his mercy 
would constrain him to do it ; which would set 
aside altogether the necessity of repentance and 
faith in order to salvation. This is a radical de- 
fect in the scheme of Universalism : it dispenses 
with the necessity of repentance and faith in order 



THE FUTURE WORLD. 185 

to salvation. Let them maintain the necessity of 
repentance and faith in order to salvation, together 
with the necessity of the atoning sacrifice of Christ 
to make that repentance and faith available, and 
we have no controversy with them. But they can- 
not do this, and remain Universalists. 

The system of doctrine maintained by orthodox 
churches, highly exalts the mercy of God. It 
speaks of his mercy in providing a Saviour, and 
in forgiving freely, fully, and eternally, all those 
who repent and believe on him ; and it speaks of 
his mercy in giving all men a period of probation, 
that they may be without excuse, if they finally 
reject the heaven so freely offered them, upon the 
simple condition of repentance and faith. This is 
mercy large and free enough, — mercy worthy of 
God. But the system maintained by orthodox 
churches speaks, also, of indignation and wrath, 
tribulation and anguish, upon all those who de- 
spise God's grace, reject the overtures of mercy, 
and put away from them all the means of salva- 
tion. 

VI. It is not true that wicked men receive their 
punishment in this life, because multitudes have 
died, and do die, in the very act of sinning with 
a high hand. 

How can that man be punished in this life for 
his sin, who is shot through the heart, while in the 

16* 



186 WICKED PUNISHED IN 

very act of outraging the laws of God and man ? 
How ? Can any tell ? That many do die thus, 
cannot be disputed. Is there a place of punish- 
ment for such in a future world ? Then the posi- 
tion of Universalism is abandoned. The antedi- 
luvians, the inhabitants of the plain, Nadab and 
Abihu, Korah and his company, and millions of 
others, have died in the very act of rebelling 
against God. Such have not been, and cannot 
be punished in the present life for their sin. If 
for their early sins there was time to punish them, 
yet what time was there to punish them for those 
sins which they committed at the moment of 
death ? They felt no compunctious visitings, — no 
remorse ; but were dreaming of profit and happi- 
ness until the very last moment. 

It will also, we believe, appear obvious that if a 
man continues in the same course of sinning down 
to the very moment of his death, he does by his 
last act, ratify and confirm, and thus commit 
anew, the sins of his whole life. This is capable 
of the clearest demonstration, on the principle laid 
down in the Epistle of James, ii. 10, " Whosoever 
shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one 
point, is guilty of all:" and on the principle, uni- 
versally acknowledged, that he who has injured 
another, and at a subsequent period justifies what 
he has done, repeats and recommits the former of- 



THE FUTURE WORLD. 187 

fence. Take whatever view then, of punishment 
you please, all men are not punished for their sins 
in the present life. Such assumption is false and 
absurd ; unsustained by scripture, reason, or 
facts. 

VII. It is not true that the wicked receive the 
punishment of their sins in this life, because God 
hath appointed a day in which he will judge the 
world. 

The appointment of a day of judgment plainly 
supposes that the punishment of the wicked, and 
the reward of the righteous, will be at a period 
subsequent to the present life. At death the sin- 
ner is arrested, as it were, and cast into prison : 
at the day of judgment he will be brought forth, 
the final sentence will be pronounced, and then 
death, and hell, and whosoever is not found writ* 
ten in the book of life, will be cast into the lake of 
fire, which is the second deaths 

We are aware that some Universalists say, that 
the day of judgment is past. If this be so, — if 
there has been a day of judgment, then it is rea- 
sonable to conclude, that there will be a day of 
judgment to come ; for if a day of judgment was 
necessary for those who lived prior to it, then cer- 
tainly, for the same reasons, a day of judgment 

Rev. xx. 14. 



188 WICKED PUNISHED IN 

will be necessary for those who shall have lived 
subsequent to it. All God's ways are equal. 

Sometimes the idea of a day of judgment is ri- 
diculed by Universalists, on the ground that no 
such day is necessary, as God perfectly knows the 
hearts and character of all men ; but how is this 
consistent with their oft repeated declaration that 
there has been a day of judgment ? A day of 
judgment is not appointed for God to inform him- 
self, though oftentimes language seemingly imply- 
ing this is employed to impress us with the equity 
of his decisions respecting the final state of men : 
and we suppose that such a course will be pursued 
as fully to justify this impressive phraseolgy. 

That the day of judgment is not " the gospel 
day or dispensation," as some Universalists would 
have it, is perfectly obvious from the fact, that in 
the gospel, it is always spoken of as coming at a 
subsequent period. Such an idea, so perfectly 
unsustained by any scripture, or argument, does 
not require refutation. 

VIII. That the wicked are punished according 
to their deserts in this life, is inconsistent with the 
account the scriptures give us of the death of Ju- 
das. He died by suicide, and could not there- 
fore, for that act, be punished this side of a future 
world. 

It is inconsistent also, with what our Saviour 



THE FUTURE WORLD. 189 

says of Judas in Matt. xxvi. 24. " The Son of 
man goeth as it is written of him : but wo unto 
that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed ; 
it had been good for that man if he had not been 
born." It would certainly be better for Judas to 
have been born, than not to have been, if an eter- 
nity of happiness was to be his portion. Or, sup- 
pose him to be punished in hell for several mil- 
lions of years, it would be well for him to have 
been born, if at the end, even of this period, he 
could be received into a perfectly holy and happy 
state ; for there would be an end to his misery, 
and he would enjoy everlasting happiness, in the 
progress of which the whole period of his unhap- 
piness would seem an inconsiderable point. The 
happiness he would enjoy, therefore, would infi- 
nitely outbalance his misery. On the supposition 
then, that at any future period, all the wicked will 
be delivered from punishment, and received to 
heaven, and Judas among the rest, it could not 
with any truth be said, that " it had been good for 
him, if he had not been born." 

IX. Once more we remark, that, according to 
the doctrine of universal salvation, the position, 
that the wicked are punished according to their 
deserts in the present life, involves an absurdity. 
According to the doctrine of universal salvation 
all men are saved. Saved ? from what are they 



190 WICKED PUNISHED IN 

saved, if the wicked receive the due reward of 
their iniquities ? According to their own show- 
ing, their's is a system of universal condemnation ; 
and we certainly believe that it is a favorite 
scheme of the Arch Deceiver to lead souls to ru- 
in. We merely glance at this thought to show 
that there is no harmony in their system. It is a 
confused pile of broken thought, thrown together 
without order. It is inconsistent with itself, 
which is a sure and obvious mark of error. 

That the wicked are punished according to 
their deserts in the present life, we have shown to 
be false from several considerations. The penal- 
ty of the divine law must be proportioned to the 
great good to be secured by it ; but the misery of 
sinners in this life does not constitute such a pen- 
alty. It is not true in point of fact, that the wick- 
ed are punished in the present life according to 
their deserts. The righteous often suffer much 
more, in the present life, than the wicked. The 
most desperately wicked men have little or no re- 
morse of conscience, and have therefore little or no 
inward suffering. That the wicked are punished 
in this life according to their deserts, is a plain de- 
nial of the mercy of God ; and it is not true, be- 
cause multitudes have died, and do die, in the 
very act of sinning with a high hand. It cannot 
be true, because God hath appointed a day in 



THE FUTURE WORLD. 191 

which he will judge the world in righteousness; 
and it is inconsistent with the account which the 
scriptures give us of the death of Judas, and with 
what our Lord said concerning him, that " it 
were good for him not to have been born.' : And 
the position, that the wicked are punished in the 
present life according to their deserts, contradicts 
the main position of Universalists, that all men are 
saved. A system, inconsistent with itself, cannot 
be consistent with reason and revelation. 

Do Ave address a Universalist ? Be assured 
my friend, that this error will not outlive your 
present life time. It will " writhe in pain and 
die,' : when the " fire shall try every man's work 
of what sort it is." Every hope which you rest 
upon this sandy foundation, will be to you as the 
giving, up of the ghost, when God shall take away 
your soul. " The spider's most attenuated 
thread, is cord, is cable," compared with the sup- 
port which your hope will give you, when you 
open your eyes upon eternal things. Leave then, 
O leave this miserable scheme. On the supposi- 
tion that Universalism is true, there is no danger 
in forsaking it ; but on the other hand, if that sys- 
tem is true which is believed and] maintained by 
all who give any evidence of piety, you are un- 
done, forever undone, except you repent and turn 
to the Lord with all your heart. Your way is 



192 WICKED PUNISHED. 

now dark and gloomy, but the end will be more 
dark and gloomy still. The way to heaven, is 
indeed narrow, and the gate strait, but the light 
of truth shines upon it, and immortal glory and 
happiness is at the end of it. Will you then rest 
your soul upon a scheme, so manifestly false and 
inconsistent, and reject the system of salvation so 
plainly taught in the Bible, so honorable to God 
and so safe to man ? " Repent and be converted 
every one of you, and your sins shall be blotted 
out, when the times of refreshing shall come from 
the presence of the Lord." 



LECTURE VIII. 



)(3=- 



THE MORAL INFLUENCE OF UNIVERSLISM. 



I. Timothy vi. 3. The doctrine which is according to godliness, 



c v 



While the scriptures forbid us, rashly and un- 
charitably, to judge our fellow men, they give us 
a criterion, by which to judge of religious teach- 
ers, and religious systems. Speaking of some 
who should claim to be teachers in Israel, and 
who should be " wolves in sheep's clothing," Je- 
sus Christ says, " By their fruits ye shall know 
them." Whether a tree brings forth good fruit 
or not, cannot be discerned by the bark and 
leaves, neither by the spreading of the branches, 
but by the fruit itself. The fruit is according to 
the tree. In their professions, men may deny 
their inclinations, and contradict their principles, 
but the general course of their lives will disclose 
them. If you know what a tree is, you may 

17 



194 MORAL INFLUENCE 

know what fruit to expect. We never expect to 
" gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles": it is 
not in their nature to produce them. A cluster 
of grapes may be hung upon a thorn-tree, or a fig 
may be stuck upon a thistle ; and so may a good 
word or action, judging externally, proceed from 
a wicked man ; but the fruit is no more natural in 
the one case than in the other. 

As we may know what the fruit will be by 
knowing the tree, so we may know what the tree 
is by the fruit. " A good tree cannot bring forth 
evil fruit, nor can a corrupt tree bring forth good 
fruit." The natural and genuine product of the 
tree, is its fruit. Men are known, not by particu- 
lar, isolated acts, but by that general course of 
conduct, which is least Under the influence of ex- 
traneous motives and inducements. 

In the same manner may we judge of religious 
systems. All the doctrines of the Bible have a 
holy influence. This is distinctly brought to view 
in our text, and abundantly taught in the inspired 
writings. Indeed the fact of their having such an 
influence need only be stated to convince any in- 
telligent mind. Hence our Saviour speaks of his 
people being sanctified through the truth : and 
Paul, in his Epistle to Titus i. 1, speaks of the 
" doctrine which is after godliness"; and in the 
second chapter and eleventh verse he says, " The 



OF UNIVERSALISM. 195 

grace of God which bringeth salvation, hath ap- 
peared unto all men, teaching us that denying 
ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live so- 
berly, righteously, and godly in the present 
world," It must be manifest to the most com- 
mon observer, that religious systems have a pow- 
erful influence upon the minds and conduct of 
those who embrace them. This fact is generally 
acknowledged. It would not be just to judge of 
the character of any community by the conduct 
of some of its w r orst members. Even among the 
apostles of our blessed Lord, there was one " Son 
of perdition." To judge of the truth of any sys- 
tem, we should inquire what, from its very nature, 
would be its probable influence. God's truth, 
revealed in the Bible, is given to man in his apos- 
tate state, and is designed to restrain, and to re- 
claim him. Then again, we are to inquire what 
its obvious and general influence is upon those 
who embrace it. Now we do not wish to speak 
invidiously, or to bring a " railing accusation" 
against any man, or class of men. We freely ac- 
knowledge that there are men of examplary mo- 
ral character who profess to be Universalists. 
But is it the doctrine of universal salvation that 
makes them such, or are they such in spite of it ? 
Men may act honorably, and faithfully discharge 
the relative duties of society, from considerations 



196 MORAL INFLUENCE 

which have no relation to their religious system. 
Their constitutions may not incline them to ex- 
cess, or they may act honorably out of regard to 
their reputation, or from a conviction that such a 
course is most conducive to their peace and pros- 
perity. There are many such, no doubt, in the 
various societies which believe in the doctrine of 
future punishment, and there are many such 
among Universalists. 

To bring the point to an issue, we shall inquire, 
if men are impenitent, unbelieving, and prayer- 
less ; if they are " filled with all unrighteousness, 
fornication, wickedness, covetousness, malicious- 
ness ; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malig- 
nity ; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, des- 
piteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, 
disobedient to parents." Does the religious sys- 
tem, which they embrace, countenance and en- 
courage them in such a course of sin ? Do the re- 
ligious systems maintained by orthodox churches, 
lull the consciences of men, and strengthen them 
in their wickedness ? Does the doctrine of uni- 
versal salvation have this effect ? 

As far then as we can judge of the influence of 
religious systems upon the minds and conduct of 
men, we purpose to inquire into the moral influ- 
ence of the doctrine of universal salvation. We 
purpose to show, that it is not a " doctrine accord- 



OF UNIVERSALISM. 197 

ing to godliness," that it is neither from God, nor 
leads men to him. 

L In prosecuting this subject, we observe, that 
according to Universalism, sin ceases to be sin 
when conscience ceases to reprove. This princi- 
ple, we believe, is generally advocated by the 
teachers of this doctrine. They may not choose 
this exact phraseology, but they cannot deny that 
this is the substance of their sentiment in relation 
to sin. According to this principle, sin is not a 
transgression of God's written law, but the viola- 
tion of a reproving conscience. According to this 
view, a heathen, without any knowledge of the 
Bible, may be as great a transgressor, as one who, 
from childhood, has known the holy scriptures. 
If a man intends to transgress God's law, it is sin ; 
but let him do what he will, if his conscience does 
not check him, and the act is not done with a sin- 
gle aim to transgress, it is not sin. This sophistry 
is employed on account of its supposed bearing 
upon the vicarious sacrifice of Christ, and the ar- 
gument against the doctrkie of Universalism, aris- 
ing from the fact that multitudes continue to out- 
rage the laws of God and man through life, and 
even in death. They do not sin, it is said, be- 
€ause they are in darkness and mean no harm. 
Startled as some may be at such a position, it has 
nevertheless been employed with no small suc- 

17* 



198 MORAL INFLUENCE 

cess, in quieting the consciences of many. Uni- 
versalism is a powerful narcotic, and when once 
received into the moral system not only stupifies 
the conscience, but also the mind. To sustain 
this position, an illustration, although not a very 
happy one, has been borrowed from human laws. 
If a man without forethought and intention, it is 
said, kill another, in the eye of the law he is not 
guilty of murder. Very true : but, if with fore- 
thought and intention a man take the life of ano- 
ther, is he not guilty of murder ? Would he be 
less guilty in the eye of the law because he com- 
mitted the act without any hesitancy or remorse ? 
Would an inquiry be instituted by any civil tribu- 
nal, whether he committed the act without any 
twinge of conscience, or whether he knew that he 
was violating the law ? 

But, a little more of this " cunning craftiness," 
if it deserve so high a name ; for it is far more 
simple than crafty. For a pious or moral man to 
transgress God's requirements is sin, and they 
have to suffer the punishment of a reproving con- 
science ; but for very wicked men to do the same 
things, it is not sin, because they feel no restraints 
and consequently they have to suffer no punish- 
ment. Accordingly, on this principle, for a man 
to become very holy, he has only to become very 
wicked ; he has only to harden his heart, and sear 



OF UNIVERSALIS^!. 199 

his conscience, and rebuke away from him the 
strivings of God's Spirit. When a man first com- 
mences a career of blood he is guilty, but when 
he has continued in it long enough to clear his 
heart from every throb of dying humanity, his 
course ceases to be sinful. A pirate sins as he 
murders his first victim, because he feels some 
checks of conscience, but he sins less and less at 
every successive murder, — his conscience becom- 
ing more seared, — until, in taking away the life 
of his fellow men, he ceases to sin at all. If a 
highwayman demand your purse, and he thinks it 
is right for him to do so, because he is poor and 
needy and you are rich, he commits no offence 
against God ; and none, of course, if this princi- 
ple is correct, against society. The legislator of 
the Jews then, did not understand the principles 
of righteousness, in requiring an atoning sacrifice 
for the sin of ignorance ; and if these principles 
are correct, the Bible is worse than a useless book, 
for it is fraught with error, and excites needless 
alarms. Indeed we need no Bible, if the opinions 
and consciences of men is the rule of righteous- 
ness. 

The most favorable light in which the views of 
Universalists upon this subject can be placed, is 
this, — if a man thinks he is doing right, and his 
conscience does not reprove him for his acts, he 



200 MORAL INFLUENCE 

does not sin. In what we have said, we have only 
carried out and illustrated this principle. Alas 
for Blackstone ! — and alas for Sir Matthew Hale I 
who, instead of being eulogized for his stern and 
manly justice, ought to be execrated for his op- 
pressive acts against those who in taking away the 
rights of their fellow men, meant nothing wrong, 
felt no compunctious visitings, and only meant to 
do themselves and others a favor ! 

Such are some of the views naturally growing 
out of the doctrine of universal salvation. Need 
we wait to see what fruit this tree will produce to 
determine its nature ? The first glance of the eye 
may tell any man, that it is a thorn-tree from 
which a grape can never be gathered. Can such 
a doctrine be according to godliness ? Nothing 
can proceed from it but "unrighteousness," and 
all the worst evils which afflict society. " It is the 
hand of death unbarring the gate of Pandemonium, 
and letting loose upon our world the crimes and 
miseries of hell." What can be expected but that 
depraved men, hearing such sentiments advanced 
with all that plausibility which shrewdness and a 
sophistical talent can throw around the grossest 
errors, should be led, under its influence, to 
"drink in iniquity as the ox drinketh in water ?" 
It is a well established fact, that such is the influ- 
ence of the discordant system of Universalism. It 



OF Ux\IVERSALISM. 201 

is a doctrine productive of ^godliness, and can- 
not therefore be of God. 

We have said that Universalism perverts the 
judgment, and stupifies the conscience. The 
mind under its influence seems incapable of feel- 
ing the force of those arguments by which the 
great truths of the Bible are sustained. Were it 
not for their known unhappy influence on wicked 
men, it would be exceedingly amusing to look at 
the interpretations which Universalists give to 
scripture texts, in order to evade the force of their 
meaniug, and get rid of the doctrine of future 
punishment. Many of them are so simple, so ob- 
viously forced, and so ludicrous, that it seems im- 
possible that the mind of any man can settle upon 
them as true. " But the god of this world blinds 
the minds of them that believe not, lest the light 
of the glorious gospel should shine unto them." 

II. The scriptures make it the duty of christians 
to " come out from the world," to " confess 
Christ before men," and to unite themselves in 
church-covenant with the people of God ; to at- 
tend meetings for religious conference and prayer ; 
to pray in their families and in the closet, and to 
send the gospel to the destitute. These are the 
natural fruits of piety. They are part and parcel 
of that " godliness" of which the great truths of 
the gospel are ever productive, when they go 



202 MORAL INFLUENCE 

home to men, " not in word only, but in power, 
and with the Holy Ghost. " Those systems of 
religion, which maintain the doctrine of endless 
misery have this influence in a greater or less de- 
gree. But do these results ever follow the 
preaching of the doctrine of universal salvation ? 
If they do, after a lengthened and careful inquiry, 
we have it yet to learn. Universalists have, we 
are well aware, what they call churches and sacra- 
ments. But if " a church is a body of sincere be- 
lievers united together in covenant for mutual edi- 
fication, and the maintenance and advancement 
of the truth," it were an easy task to prove that 
they have no church, and that their communities 
are bodies of unbelievers^ banded together to keep 
each other in countenance in the belief of error, 
and to oppose the progress of evangelical truth. 
No one regards it as an evidence of piety because 
a man belongs to a community of Universalists, 
Even they themselves, if they would be candid, 
do not so regard it. The teaching of their doc- 
trine never drew forth a man from the world to 
take a stand on the Lord's side, so that his pres- 
ence brought God, and his holy truth to remem- 
brance. In all places where Universalism is 
known, it would be regarded as an evidence, that 
a man would not hesitate to break the Sabbath, 
or fear an oath, or make light of sacred things, to 



OF UNIVERSALISM. 203 

say that he was a professed Universalist. Nor 
ean their societies ever be bettered. They can- 
not be purified. It is not in the nature of their 
doctrine to produce godliness. You cannot 
" gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles." 

It has ever been regarded by the pious as an 
interesting and important duty to maintain meet- 
ings for religious conference and prayer. In Old 
Testament times, " they that loved the Lord spake 
often one to another, and the Lord hearkened 
and heard it,"* and it is strictly enjoined upon 
christians in the New Testament "not to forsake 
the assembling of themselves together, but to ex- 
hort one another, and so much the more as they 
see the day approaching."! Our blessed Lord, 
to encourge his people in this duty, has promised 
that where two or three are assembled in his 
name, he will be in the midst of them4 Such 
meetings are maintained by the pious of all chris- 
tian denominations ; but who ever knew" of such 
meetings being regularly maintained among Uni- 
versalists ? In some few instances they have been 
set up for a very short season, to wipe off their re- 
proach in the eyes of the community ; but they 
have soon been abandoned. While all christian 
churches maintain such meetings, we hear nothing 
of them among Universalists. That they are a 

* Mai, iii. 16. f Heb> x. 25. J Matt, xviii, 20. 



204 MORAL INFLUENCE 

powerful means of producing practical godliness? 
no one will dispute, who knows any thing about 
them. In the Universalist scheme those reasons 
have no existence, which make such meetings 
pleasing and delightful to christians. Their's is 
not a " doctrine according to godliness." 

No duty is more strongly urged in the Bible 
than that of prayer. We are commanded to 
" pray always," to " pray without ceasing," to 
u pray and not faint." Family prayer has been 
practiced by the godly in all ages atid nations; so 
has private prayer. Among the orthodox, no 
one would be considered as having a just claim 
to the christian name, who should habitually neg- 
lect these duties. Universalists will not deny 
that prayer is an important duty, for they prac- 
tice it in public worship. But who ever heard of 
family prayer being maintained by a Universalist? 
There may have been a very few instances, but 
we have never known of any. Those ministers 
among them, who have been converted, and have 
joined christian churches, say that it is never prac- 
ticed. For my own satisfaction I have often put 
the question to Universalists — -" Do you observe 
secret prayer"? and have never received an af- 
firmative answer. It is a prayerless doctrine — it 
is not " according to godliness." 

It would be very easy to show that the scrip- 



OF UNIVERSALISM. 205 

tares make it the duty of christians to send the 
Bible and missionaries to the destitute. Most, if 
not all christian churches, deem it a privilege to 
labor, in some way, in such a cause. Their works 
speak for them. But have the Universalists a sin- 
gle missionary in the foreign field ? They would 
smile contemptuously at the thought of such an 
enterprize. Where are their Bible, Missionary, 
and Tract Societies ? We have learned of none. 
According to their system, all men are safe, and 
why should they trouble themselves about the hea- 
then ? But the scriptures make it our duty to 
send the gospel to those who have it not : the sys- 
tem of Universalism, however, renders this duty 
unimportant and useless. Their's is not " a doc- 
trine according to godliness." 

III. Revivals are the life of the church. With- 
out a revival spirit, " the candlestick would quick- 
ly be removed out of its place" — the very name 
and existence of a pure church would be lost. 
They have ever been the standard which the Lord 
has lifted up against the enemy, when he has come 
in like a flood. " Revivals," says a distinguished 
father in Israel, " touch the deep springs of hu- 
man actions, and give tone and energy to the mo- 
ral government of God. They multiply families 
that call upon the name of the Lord, and train up 
children in his fear, and churches constrained by 

18 



206 MORAL INFLUENCE 

the love of Christ to propagate the gospel. They 
elevate the standard of liberality, and augment the 
capital which is consecrated to the renovation of 
the world, and the importunity of prayer which 
secures its application and efficacy. They multi- 
ply the host of evangelical ministers and mission- 
aries. They repress crime, and purify the public 
morality, and breathe into legislation and the in- 
tercourse of nations that spirit of the gospel, w T hich 
shall banish wars, and introduce peace upon the 
earth and good will towards men. They pour 
daylight upon darkness, and destroy, with a touch, 
the power of sophistry. Hence nothing is so ter- 
rible to the enemies of the truth as revivals of re- 
ligion, because nothing is so irresistible. If they 
oppose them by violence, they move on. If they 
misrepresent them, they move on. If they imitate 
them, the imitation fails, and they move on ; while 
often the chosen vessels of opposition fall under 
their power, sending panic and rage through the 
ranks of the enemy." It is well known that revi- 
vals, frequent and powerful, attend the preaching 
of that system which contains the doctrine of fu- 
ture punishment. 

It is a fact equally well known, that revivals and 
the conversion of souls never attend the teaching 
of universal salvation. On the contrary, Univer- 
salists generally look upon them with scorn and 



OF UNIVERSALISM. 207 

contempt. They labor to qiret the minds of con- 
victed sinners, by promising them life. And if a 
sinner under conviction is persuaded to embrace 
the doctrine of Universalism, all his convictions and 
purposes of reform, instantly forsake him. This 
is a well known fact. The man cannot be found 
in the wide world, who will come forward and 
say, that he was influenced to break off his sins 
and turn unto the Lord, under the teaching of uni- 
versal salvation. Were Universalism then, to fill 
the world, there would be no more revivals — no 
more souls converted. Darkness would cover the 
earth, and gross darkness the people. The world 
would be lost. Can that doctrine be of God which 
leads to such results— results so opposite to those 
produced by the preaching of the Prophets and 
the Apostles ? Which system better answers the 
ends for which the ministry of reconciliation was 
instituted ? Judge ye. The doctrine of universal 
salvation is not " a doctrine according to godli- 
ness. " 

IV. The influence of Universalism upon the 
minds of men tends to subvert the moral govern- 
of God, and to introduce the reign of unbridled 
passion. It tends to moral anarchy. A moral 
government is a government of laws administered 
by motives ; but Universalism annihilates all mo- 
tives to the practice of godliness — every thing at 



208 , MORAL INFLUENCE 

least that can operate as a motive upon the minds 
of unholy men. 

The Bible, in order to promote the reign of 
grace, represents God as a Rewarder. Both Mo- 
ses and Christ are said to have been encouraged 
in their holy, self-denying labors, by looking at 
the recompense of reward. That reward was the 
future glory which should be the result of their 
toils here. Such an influence is in perfect har- 
mony with the exercise of pure benevolence ; for, 
in being influenced by that glory which is the re- 
ward of the righteous, the highest good of being is 
the propelling motive. But Universalism denies 
that God is a rewarder, and therefore annihilates 
this mighty motive : for, if heaven and all its glo- 
ry is as sure to those who serve not God, as to 
those that serve him, how is he the li rewarder of 
those that diligently seek him ?" We speak of 
a future reward. It was this at which Moses and 
Christ looked, and it is this which makes every be- 
liever count his afflictions here " light and but for 
a moment." Then as to the reward of an approv- 
ing conscience, that, according to the scheme of 
Universalism, can as well be attained by excessive 
sinning, as by practical righteousness. 

It is reasonable to expect that the doctrines of 
future punishment to the wicked, and future glory 
to the righteous, should have a powerful influence 



OF UNIVERSALIS^. 209 

on men to restrain them from sin, and turn them 
to the practice of righteousness. That they have 
such an influence there need be no doubt. They 
are designed to have such an influence, and we 
can see the wisdom and grace of God, in holding 
out such vast motives. No government but that 
of God could do it, and it is just what we might 
expect from the head and source of all goodness. 
Destroy these motives, and you destroy the hold 
which God has upon the hearts of men. The Di- 
vine Being holds and moves men, not as mere ani- 
mals, but as rational, intelligent beings. What, 
after such influences are removed, could we ex- 
pect from men in a depraved state, but that they 
should " walk, every one, in the ways of his own 
heart ?" 

These remarks will not have much influence 
upon the mind of a confirmed Universalist, be- 
cause his system denies the doctrine of total de- 
pravity, and resolves the salvation of men into a 
mere act of fatality. He is saved, because he can- 
not help it. But we wish to show to others, than 
Universalists, the moral influence of the system. 
That the influence of God's moral government is 
destroyed by such views, appears as plain as any 
truth can be made to appear. That such a doc- 
trine is not according to godliness we know ; that 

18* 



210 MORAL INFLUENCE 

it cannot be, from its very nature, we are attempt- 
ing to prove. 

V. The direct tendency of Universalism is, to 
strengthen the hands of the wicked. " With 
lies," says God by the prophet Exekiel, xiii. 11, 
" have ye made the heart of the righteous sad, 
whom I have not made sad, and strengthened the 
hands of the wicked, that he should not return 
from his wicked way, by promising him life." 
That the doctrine of universal salvation should 
have this effect is not strange ; it is very natural 
that it should. If a robber were assured that his 
crimes would not overtake him, to deprive him of 
liberty and happiness, and life, would he not be 
strengthened and emboldened in his course ? 
Should the officers of government whisper in the 
ears of the licentious, oppressive, and thievish, — 
" Do what you will — throw the reins upon the 
neck of your worst passions — drive such a course 
of plunder and blood, as may please you — rest 
assured no other punishment shall be inflicted 
upon you than the remorse of your own con- 
sciences"; would they not be strengthened in 
their wickedness ? From such an assurance 
would any one be led to reflect with horror upon 
his evil propensities, or be induced to forsake his 
course ? Suppose such a course should be adopt- 
ed to weaken the hands of bold offenders, and to 



OF UNIVERSALISM. 211 

reform them ? The idea is ridiculous. The mag- 
istrate who should pursue such a plan, would be 
thought a proper subject for a lunatic asylum. If 
then, under human governments, such an assu- 
rance would open the floodgates of destruction 
upon society, how can we expect any different 
results under the moral government of God ? If 
the sentiment that no other punishment should be 
inflicted by human governments on offenders than 
the remorse of their own consciences, would not 
be productive of good order, is it not plain that 
such a sentiment in relation to the government of 
God, would not create conformity to the dictates 
of righteousness ? We need not spend a moment 
to convince any man that the influence of such 
sentiments is just such, as, from their very nature, 
we should expect them to be. The doctrine of 
universal salvation is most generally embraced by 
infidels, profane swearers, sabbath breakers, the 
intemperate, and those who are unfaithful in the 
conjugal relation. That there are some among 
Universalists who sustain the character of sober 
citizens, and kind neighbors, we have cheerfully 
conceded. The enemy is always anxious to en- 
list such in his cause, whom he uses, as a falcon- 
er does his hawks, — to entice and catch his prey. 
Their' s will be the greater condemnation. The 



212 MORAL INFLUENCE 

great mass of Universalists, however, are prayer- 
less, loose, vicious, hardened men and women. 

There are many who were once members of 
christian churches who have become Universalists. 
But who are they ? Have their spirit and charac- 
ter improved by the change ? It is well known 
that those who have gone over to them from 
christian churches, are those who first forsook 
their closets, then the family altar, then the reli- 
gious conference, finally, giving themselves to 
practices not tolerated by christian churches, 
were excommunicated, and as the last step in 
their downward course they joined the Universal- 
ists. Not an instance can be found where a man, 
who was loose in his morals, inattentive to the du- 
ties of the closet, the family, and the Sabbath, 
who, by joining the Universalists, at once became 
improved in his manners, and faithful and devout 
in religious duties* But on the other hand, in- 
stances are constantly occurring, of men, who, 
by leaving the Universalists, and joining some 
christian denomination, exhibit a manifest im- 
provement of spirit and conduct. That these 
things are so, the world knows. It is confirma- 
tion strong that the doctrine of universal salvation 
is not " a doctrine according to godliness." 

VI. Universalism consorts with infidelity. 
Some of the most zealous supporters of universal- 



OF UNIVERSALISM. 



213 



ist preaching are decided infidels, although we 
have heard of one who utterly refused to be re- 
garded as such, on account of the demoralizing 
tendency of the doctrine. But we have never 
seen an infidel who manifested any objection. 

The same reasons that lead to Universalism, 
lead to infidelity. Like infidelity it undervalues 
the sacred scriptures, and denies all its essential 
truths. It makes the Bible, in all its sanctifying 
and saving influences, a dead letter. Like infide- 
lity it has no definite system of doctrine, and du- 
ties, but shows itself principally in decrying what- 
ever is held as important and sacred by the vari- 
ous denominations of christians. As they have 
no established, authentic creed, they find it con- 
venient to deny any of their peculiar views, when 
they are disrobed, and held up to view in their 
naked deformity. There are but few Universal- 
ists, but what, when they are hard pressed with 
sacred truth, will deny the Bible altogether ; and 
they are usually just as well pleased to hear infidel- 
ity ably defended, as to hear the doctrine of Uni- 
versalism ably defended. It is religious responsi- 
bility, and future punishment that awakens all their 
hate, and but few things that have not these offen- 
sive features offend them. Frances "Wright when 
she was in Boston, expressed great respect for 
the character of Mr. Ballou, who is regarded as 



214 MORAL INFLUENCE 

the father of modern Universalism. Of the im- 
moral tendency of infidelity we need not speak. 
We need not call up the ghosts of its departed 
champions and victims to testify : it is known and 
read of all men ; and who that knows any thing 
about Universalism requires to be informed that 
its influence is the same ? It is not "a doctrine 
according to godliness." 

In concluding this lecture we ask, 

What good can result from teaching or believ- 
ing the doctrine of universal salvation ? Accord- 
ing to its own showing, it neither promotes nor 
secures the salvation of an individual. All men 
will be saved, according to it, if it is never taught 
or believed. We have seen that the belief of it 
makes no man the better, but that it has made 
many men the worse. Do you say that it promotes 
happiness ? Who is made happy by it ? None 
but the wicked, to whom "God has said, there is 
no peace." Is it desirable to make them happy 
in their sins, and strengthen them in their wicked- 
ness, and induce them to cry V peace and safety," 
until " sudden destruction comes upon them ?" 
From such happiness — happiness that prepares its 
victims for the pains of the second death — good 
Lord deliver us. 

As to every thing deserving the name of happi- 
ness, we aver that the cordial belief of the evan- 



OF UNIVERSALISM. 215 

gelical doctrines makes men much happier than 
they are who believe in the doctrine of universal 
salvation. They impart a solid and substantial 
joy, which death itself cannot remove, but kindle 
into a brighter and eternal flame. No one ever 
knew or heard of a person, who had embraced the 
great truths of the Bible, as maintained by ortho- 
dox churches, who renounced or lamented them 
upon a dying bed. On the other hand, rarely does 
a Universalist die, but all his peace forsakes him, 
and he laments and renounces his system, as hav- 
ing ensnared his soul, and endangered his salva- 
tion* 

We cannot close this lecture without beseeching 
parents and guardians, to guard those dear youth 
committed to their charge, from the fatal influence 
of this doctrine of ungodliness. Would you take 
off from your child the restraints which God in in- 
finite mercy has thrown around him ? Teach him 
Universalism. Would you rob him of the most 
powerful motive to the practice of virtue ? Teach 
him Universalism. Would you put fire to his in- 
flammable passions ? Teach him Universalism. 
Would you prepare him for " treason, stratagem, 
and spoils," and would you remove the last and 
most difficult obstacle that depravity surmounts in 
the way to unbridled licentiousness ? Teach him 
Universalism Would you strengthen his already 



216 MORAL INFLUENCE, &C. 

vicious propensities, and speed his course to the 
prison and the scaffold ? Teach him Universal- 
ism. But would you use your best endeavors to 
guard him against those evils, and lead him to hon- 
or and happiness, both here and hereafter, save 
him, if possible, from the influence of that doc- 
trine that rolls desolation and moral death in its 
course. The river, seen in Ezekiel's vision, did 
not more certainly spread health and life in its 
progress. Teach him, then, the truth as it is in 
Jesus. Teach him some of the last words of our 
Saviour to his disciples, " He that belie veth and 
is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth 
not shall be damned*" Amen* 



LECTURE IX. 



THE, ENDLESS PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED NOT INCON- 
SISTENT WITH THE JUSTICE OF GOD. 



Romans iii. 5. Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance ? 

"Efficiency in government," says a plain 
writer, "is popular or unpopular according to the 
character of the individual who judges of it. An 
efficient administration secures protection and 
happiness to the good, but to the bad it brings 
suffering, and perhaps destruction. It is natural 
therefore that the latter should be very slow to 
praise the justice which they fear ; and in this 
world there is so large a portion upon whom 
God's efficiency as a moral governor, will bear 
very heavily, that the whole subject is exceeding- 
ly unpopular among mankind. 

It is curious to observe how men's estimate of 
the same conduct varies, according to the way in 

19 



218 god's justice consistent 

which they are themselves to be affected by it : 
for nothing is more admired and applauded among 
men, than efficiency in the execution of law, in 
all cases, where they are themselves safe from its 
penalties. There have been great disputes in re- 
spect to the bounds which ought to be assigned to 
political governments, or, in other words, the de- 
gree of power which the magistrate ought to pos- 
sess. But within these bounds, — in the exercise 
of this power, — every body admires and praises 
firmness, energy, and inflexible decision. No- 
body objects except the criminal who has to suf- 
fer for the safety of the rest. He always protests 
against it.'** 

The justice and benevolence of God, in the 
endless punishment of the wicked, never would 
be called in question by any man, if he himself 
were not exposed to it. Men, in their depraved 
state, find it so hard to obey the law, and embrace 
the gospel, that they protest against the penalties 
by which they are sanctioned ; and, as if disputing 
them would cause a repeal, they " set their mouth 
against the heavens, and their tongue walketh 
through the earth," in loud, and noisy declama- 
tion, against the injustice of such enactments. 
They can easily perceive the correctness of those 
principles, by which the moral government of 

* Jacob Abbott. 



WITH ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. 219 

God is sustained, when so applied as not to have 
a direct bearing upon themselves. 

Ever since the apostacy of mankind, they have 
been disposed to contend with God respecting his 
character, government, and law. They have call- 
ed in question his sovereignty, his justice, and his 
goodness. They have complained of the pre- 
cepts and penalty of his law, and the conditions 
and sanction of his gospel. They have arraigned 
the equity and benevolence of his government, 
and said that " the ways of the Lord are not 
equal." 

The apostle, in the text, anticipates these objec- 
tions. " Is God unrighteous who taketh ven- 
geance"? u I speak," says he, " as a man"; 
that is, I make this objection as the language of 
the carnal, unrenewed heart. 

In our subsequent remarks we shall endeavor 
to show the justice of God in the endless punish- 
ment of the wicked ; or, that God is not " unright- 
eous in taking vengeance." That God will pun- 
ish the wicked forever, we have already proved 
from the scriptures, and we trust that no one will 
dispute, for a moment, that " the Judge of all the 
earth will do right." Yet as the justice of God 
may not appear plain to them in this proceeding, 
our object will be to elucidate the subject, and 
make it appear that, in the endless punishment of 



220 god's justice consistent 

the wicked, there is nothing contrary to our ideas 
of the strictest justice. 

We shall pay but little attention to those defini- 
tions of justice which some Universalist writers 
have given, because we think they are mists 
which the light of truth will readily dissipate. In- 
deed, their fallacy is too obvious to require much 
attention. Who does not perceive the fallacy of 
the definition of justice given by the Chevalier 
Ramsay, one of the principal early advocates of 
Universalism, that " justice is that perfection of 
God, by which he endeavors continually to make 
all intelligencies just." This idea of justice is en- 
tirely new, and without the shadow of an argu- 
ment to support it. It shows very clearly that he 
perceived, if justice were allowed to retain its ob- 
vious, common sense, and authorized meaning, no 
argument could be built upon it in favor of uni- 
versal salvation. If this definition of justice were 
correct, a being might exercise it, and yet, accord- 
ing to the common acceptation of the term, be ve- 
ry unjust. A master, from the merest selfishness, 
might endeavor continually to make all his ser- 
vants just, and yet be very unjust himself. If 
such, also, be the justice of God, then his mercy, 
long-suffering, and benevolence, ought to be de- 
fined in the same way ; and be regarded as attri- 
butes, by which he endeavors continually to make 



WITH ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. 221 

all other intelligencieSj merciful, long-suffering, 
and benevolent. 

A fair and honorable rendering to every one 
according to their personal rights or demerits, en- 
ters into all our ideas of distributive justice. If a 
law is manifestly unjust, no justice can be made to 
appear in punishing men for violating it. If a 
law forbid a man to pray, or require him to ren- 
der religious worship to an image, there can be 
no justice in punishing him for breaking it ; as in 
the case of the three Hebrews who were punished 
by Nebuchadnezzar, and of Daniel who was pun- 
ished by Darius. If a master or magistrate re- 
quire impossibilities of men, justice cannot be 
made to appear in punishing them for not perform- 
ing such requirements. But if the design of a 
law is good, its requirements easy and beneficial, 
and its penalty duly proportioned, every one per- 
ceives the justice of punishing the violators of 
such law. Then, if a pardon is tendered to a 
criminal, on honorable conditions, and he con- 
temptuously refuses it, the justice of executing up- 
on him the sentence of the law appears magnifi- 
ed. If favors are offered the unworthy, and they 
disdainfully refuse them, no one thinks there is 
any injustice in leaving them to experience all the 
ills, consequent upon their refusal. With such 
views of justice, so simple that every child may 

19* 



222 god's justice consistent 

understand them, we proceed to illustrate the po- 
sition, that God is not unrighteous, in taking ven- 
geance. We wish to be understood as affixing 
to the terms, "taking vengeance," the sense of 
inflicting endless punishment upon the finally im- 
penitent. 

I. Either God's law is unjnst, or he is right- 
eous in taking vengeance. The premises, that 
God's law is just, no one will dispute ; the con- 
clusion then is unavoidable, that he is righteous in 
taking vengeance, or in executing the penalty of 
the law. 

The law of God is a transcript of his nature, — 
" holy, just, and good." All its precepts are rea- 
sonable, and eminently calculated to promote and 
secure the happiness of those to whom it is given. 
It was intended to secure the everlasting holiness 
and happiness of the whole human family ; and 
perfect obedience would have secured such holi- 
ness and happiness. The holiness and happiness 
of heaven is perfect, because in that world there is 
a perfect conformity to God's law, which we have 
reason to believe is the same as the law given to 
us here, as far as the relation that beings, in that 
state, stand in to each other, is the same. The 
misery of hell is complete, because in that state 
there is not the least conformity to God's law. 
All the little happiness that is left us in this world, 



WITH ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. 223 

is owing to our obedience to it, although an im- 
perfect obedience. Obedience to the mere letter 
of it even, is productive of great good ; and per- 
fect obedience, both to the letter and spirit of it, 
would be productive of infinite good. No man 
who has reflected at all upon the nature and influ- 
ence of love, needs any argument to convince 
him, that " perfect love casteth out fear," and all 
the torments of which fear is productive. Per- 
fect love not only casteth out fear, and its tor- 
ments, but hatred also and its torments, and lusts 
and their torments, and every other source of un- 
happiness to which man is subject. 

This is the sum of all God's requirements : 
u Love is the fulfilling of the law." Is it possi- 
ble then, that the law of God could be more just, 
and reasonable ? Are not all its requirements 
practicable and easy ? "What a world would this 
be, without it ? 

It would require more than the space allotted 
to a single lecture, to set forth the evils which 
would result from an unpunished disobedience of 
God's holy requirements ; and the happy influ- 
ences, on the other hand, which would result from 
perfect obedience. Has not God been infinitely 
kind then, in giving us a law ? — in giving us such 
a law ? What can be conceived of, better adap- 
ted to man's nature and circumstances ? Surely, 



224 god's justice consistent 

we cannot have a clearer expression of God's in- 
finitely holy and benevolent nature. But a law 
without a penalty is no law. Advice may be giv- 
en without a sanction, but not a law. If, how- 
ever, the law be so important, if it be designed to 
secure infinite good, and prevent infinite evil, 
then reason teaches us that it ought to be guarded 
by a proportionate penalty. That the greatest 
possible security ought to be given to it, must ap- 
pear reasonable to every sober mind. That end- 
less punishment is such security, we have endeav- 
ored to show in a former lecture. That it has a 
greater influence to deter men from crime, than 
any other consideration, is plain from the unwea- 
ried endeavors, that are incessantly put forth, to 
make it appear that there is no such state of pun- 
ishment. These endeavors are put forth by men, 
who are utterly opposed to the holiness of the gos- 
pel. Men cannot rest quietly in their sins, in the 
belief of endless punishment, and whenever they 
are able to persuade themselves into the disbelief 
of it, they often give themselves up to unbridled 
licentiousness, or feel no other restraint, than 
that which results from their station in society, or 
their views of what is most conducive to their pres- 
ent profit. 

It is maintained, by Universalists, that endless 
punishment is disproportionate to human offences, 



WITH ENDLESS PUNISHMENT, 225 

that the brevity of human life is such, that the in- 
tention of sinners and the consequences of their 
sins are such, as cannot justly be punished with 
everlasting destruction. Let us borrow an illus- 
tration from what is very readily acknowledged 
to be true in respect to human governments, and 
is equally true in reference to the government of 
God. For the outlines of the illustration, we ac- 
knowledge ourselves indebted to the admirable 
author of the Corner Stone. 

1. The time spent in committing sin has no- 
thing to do with the just duration of the punish- 
ment of it. A man may be years in committing 
an offence which shall be punished with only a 
short term of imprisonment ; and in a very brief 
space of time, he may commit a crime which shall 
send him tothe scaffold, or to spend his days " in 
grinding in the prison-house." One man there 
was, and indeed there are many such cases, who 
was several years, in committing various peccadil- 
loes, the aggregate of which, however, was con- 
siderable, for which he was sent to the state pris- 
on for only five years. Another man may, how- 
ever, commit a crime in a few minutes by which 
he forfeits his life. The inquiry is never made 
in court, how much time the person spent in com- 
mitting the crime. One may go down to the 
grave at the age of twenty, with greater guilt up- 



226 god's justice consistent. 

on his head, than another at the age of eighty. 
In that brief space of time he may have commit- 
ted greater sin, and have accumulated more 
wrath, and find a lower place in hell. The con- 
sequence to society of suffering the crime to go 
u unwhipt of justice," is that by which human 
governments determine the amount of punish- 
ment. So it is in the government of God. Oth- 
er worlds besides this, we suppose to be affected 
by the administration of God's government over 
us. The expulsion of the fallen angels from 
heaven, has had a mighty influence, no doubt, in 
securing the holiness and happiness of innumera- 
ble other intelligences. 

2. Desert of punishment does not always de- 
pend upon intention to do injury. A person 
may not design to injure any one, yet an offence 
may be committed, which, if suffered to pass with 
impunity, would roll desolation over the commu- 
nity. A few years since, in this State, a young 
man forged his uncle's, and another gentleman's 
name, to a note as endorsers, for an inconsidera- 
ble amount. He did not intend to injure any 
one. Indeed, he enclosed the money, in a letter, 
for the payment of the note some time before the 
term for which it was given expired : but the let- 
ter was delayed. The note was protested. The 
next day, after the protest, the letter, containing 



WITH ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. 227 

the payment of the note, was received. The note 
was enclosed in a letter, directed to the young 
man, and sent to the post office. One of the gen- 
tlemen, whose name was endorsed, arrived at the 
bank immediately after, and declared it a forgery. 
One of the clerks ran to the post office, found the 
letter not mailed, and took it out. The young 
man was arrested, tried, convicted, and sent to 
Auburn for a term of years. Many, very many, 
pitied him, but I never heard any one complain 
that the government did him injustice. The in- 
quiry was not instituted in court what the young 
man's intention was, but simply whether he had 
committed the offence. That being proved he 
was condemned. If such a crime were suffered 
to go unpunished, the strong foundations of com- 
mercial confidence would be weakened and ulti- 
mately destroyed, and immense evil would ensue. 
A man may break the Sabbath, or profane the 
name of God, without any deliberate design of do- 
ing injury ; but in the face of heaven and earth he 
tramples upon divine authority, and no human 
being can tell the consequences that may ultimate- 
ly ensue. A man may commit other sins, with- 
out at the time intending to injure any one, and 
yet he may injure thousands. A Universalist 
may not deliberately intend to injure any one, by 
believing, or preaching the doctrine of universal 



228 god's justice consistent 

salvation ; but he commits the crime of unbelief, 
and may influence another individual to follow in 
his steps, and he others, and they others still, and 
thus the hands of wickedness be strengthened, 
God's government defied, and a tide of unholy in- 
fluence, gathering corruption and death in its pro* 
gress, be rolled down the whole course of time. 

3. Desert of punishment is not made to depend 
upon the immediate consequences of the sin. The 
immediate consequences of the crime of forgery, 
in some instances, may not be observable. The 
law is not framed to meet the immediate conse- 
quences of offences. A thousand pounds might 
be stolen from a person of the wealth of John Ja- 
cob Astor, and no immediate evil consequences be 
felt by him, or by any other individual in the com- 
munity ; yet the offence against law and against 
society, in this case, would be the same, as if the 
money were taken from an individual worth only 
a few thousand. No inquiry would be instituted 
in any court of justice respecting the immediate 
consequences of the crime. We may not be able 
to see any very dreadful consequences, imme- 
diately resulting from many sins committed 
against heaven, but could we follow their remoter 
influences, we should see, perhaps, the little spark 
kindled into a consuming fire. The immediate 
consequences of Ahab's covetousness, for he had 



WITH ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. 229 

probably, long indulged it, might not have been 
discernible ; but ultimately it issued in the murder 
of Naboth, and a corrupting moral influence on 
the minds and hearts of a nation. 

4. Desert of punishment does not depend upon 
the degree of distinctness with which the conse- 
quences are foreseen. 

Indeed the consequences may not be foreseen 
at all. You may have seen the notice, in one of 
our periodicals, of a man who was arrested for 
the crime of murder. After his arrest he was vis- 
ited bv an individual, who asked him if he knew 
the consequence of his crime ? "A few years 
imprisonment," he replied. When told that it 
was death — " That law," said he, " is repealed." 
He was informed that the subject was before the 
Legislature, at their last session, but that the law 
was not repealed. His countenance fell. Ought 
he therefore, to suffer imprisonment for a term of 
years only, because he thought that the conse- 
quence of the crime ? Many murders have been 
committed, the perpetrators apprehending no oth- 
er consequences from the crime to themselves, 
than ease and affluence. The inquiry is never 
instituted in any court, whether the criminal dis- 
tinctly foresaw the consequences of his act. Is 
he guilty ? or is he not guilty ? that is the point 

attended to ; and his punishment is not graduated 

20 



230 god's justice consistent 

by his view of what might be the result, in case he 
should be arrested. Many infidels, and Univer- 
salists spend their lives in sin, apprehending that 
annihilation, or heaven, will be their final end. 
But will their apprehension of consequences make 
the truth of God without effect ? 

5. The object of punishment is not revenge 
against the individual. 

The laws are not made to ensnare, and entrap 
men, but for the security and well being of socie- 
ty. They breathe out threatenings to the trans- 
gressors, but it is to bid them beware of condem- 
nation, and to keep off from forbidden ground. A 
jury, which upon the evidence before them pro- 
nounces a man guilty, indulges no feelings of re- 
venge against the criminal ; and the judge, with a 
heart of tenderness, may pronounce upon him the 
extreme sentence of law. Our Saviour felt no 
unkindness towards the Jews for all that they had 
done, when he wept over them and foretold their 
destruction, and he will possess no unkindness of 
heart toward the wicked, when he shall bid them 
depart from him into everlasting fire. The ob- 
ject of punishment, in human society, is a moral 
influence upon the community, designed to arrest 
the ruinous consequences of transgression. Its 
object is, the security of property, of rights, of 
happiness, and life. 



WITH ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. 231 

The ruinous consequences of sin against God, 
if not arrested and punished, would be everlast- 
ing ; and productive of infinite evil, probably, to 
other worlds. All the good which God's law is 
calculated and designed to secure, would be de- 
stroyed, and there would be an end to holiness 
and happiness in the intelligent universe. Is not 
the law of God " holy, just, and good"? Ought 
it not to be maintained in the strongest possible 
manner? In short, "is God unrighteous who 
taketh vengeance"? It appears, then after what 
has been said, just as easy to see the justice of 
God in the endless punishment of the wicked, as 
to see the justice of human governments in impris- 
oning men for life> for the highest offences they 
can commit. 

II. Either the gospel is not what it purports to 
be ; a system, devised by infinite wisdom, for de- 
livering men from sin ; either its conditions are 
unjust, or God is righteous in taking vengeance on 
them that obey it not. 

Deliverance from punishment, is an effect of 
embracing the gospel, not its primary design. 
" Unto you first," says Peter to the Jews, " God 
having raised up his Son, Jesus Christ, sent him 
to bless you, in turning away every one of yovt 
from his inquities." But they would not be thus 
blessed: they "judged themselves unworthy of 



232 god's justice consistent 

eternal life," disobeyed the gospel, and God took 
from them this only means of salvation. It is a 
fact, that needs no proof, that multitudes, at the 
present day, do not believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and "they die in their sins." Already, 
under the condemnation of a law, obedience to 
which would have secured their everlasting holi- 
ness and happiness, God in mercy devised anoth- 
er expedient, to make them holy and happy, but 
they put it far from them. Though it is " the 
wisdom of God and the power of God," they ac- 
count it foolishness, and with all their sins upon 
their head go down to the grave, and from thence 
to the judgment. If there is an instance, in which 
justice can be displayed with such brilliancy as to 
dazzle the eyes of intelligent beings, tell me, will 
not that be one, when God shall take vengeance 
on such ? We have already remarked that, if a 
pardon were tendered to criminals, on honorable 
conditions, and they should disdainfully refuse it, 
the justice of inflicting upon them the penalty of 
a broken law would appear greatly magnified. 
Just so in this case. If the gospel offers pardon 
on honorable conditions ; if it is a divine expedi- 
ent for delivering men from the curse of the law, 
and from the dominion of sin, the great source of 
misery, and men freely and deliberately refuse to 
comply with the conditions, then who can help 



WITH ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. 233 

seeing the justice of God in their final condemna- 
tion ? No one will pretend that the gospel is not 
a system of infinite benevolence and mercy, and 
that its conditions are not honorable, and such as 
ought to be complied with ; then no one can 
deny that God " is righteous in taking ven- 
geance." 

The gospel is called a law, because it has the re- 
quisitions and penalties of a law. It is a system to 
be obeyed, as well as believed. The conditions on 
which we become partakers of its benefits are re- 
pentance and faith. Its penalty is eternal damna- 
tion. " He that believeth not shall be damned." 
It is designed to make the same moral impression, 
in saving those who comply with its conditions, 
that punishment will make, with respect to those 
who are finally condemned. It exhibits God's 
holy hatred of sin, his fixed purpose to punish it, 
and the impossibility of passing it by, without sat- 
isfaction ; and it also manifests his willingness to 
do all that he can do, consistently with his moral 
government, and man's character as an account- 
able agent, to deliver him from sin and condem- 
nation. 

But what moral impression would be made, if 
the gospel extended salvation indiscriminately to 
all men — to the incorrigibly impenitent and diso- 
bedient, as well as to the penitent and believing ? 

20* 



234 god's justice consistent 

What moral impression, indeed, is made, on the 
minds of those, who believe that the gospel does 
thus extend salvation, and that in a community 
too, where there are so many influences adverse 
to its full developement ? The impression is, that 
sin is not a great evil — that there was no necessity 
for a vicarious sacrifice for sin — that there is ve- 
ry little difference between those who repent and 
believe, and those who do not — that there is no 
need of a judgment to come, &c, &c. But were 
it undisputed that such is the gospel, and were 
there nothing to counteract the full developement 
of the impression and the influences that would 
follow, would it not destroy all sense of the evil 
of sin, offer a premium to transgression, and be 
the utter destruction of " whatsoever things are 
lovely, and of good report ?" What would be the 
effect upon society, if those who hold the reins of 
government were to proclaim an universal amnes- 
ty, not only for offences already committed, but 
for those which should hereafter be committed ? 
Would it not gradually destroy all sense of obli- 
gation, confound right and wrong, annihilate all 
law and government, and introduce confusion and 
every evil work ? Could God, with any justice to 
himself or his creatures, proclaim such a pardon ? 
By so doing, would he not trample upon his own 
authority, and law, and do an infinite injury to his 



WITH ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. 235 

intelligent universe ? Is he not righteous then, in 
taking vengeance ? 

III. Either God is unjust in punishing the wick- 
ed at all, or he is righteous in punishing them for- 
ever. 

There are none who deny that it is just in God 
to punish the wicked some. Universalists say that 
God punishes the wicked in this life. In their 
view, sin is very small, and deserves but very lit- 
tle punishment. They, however, maintain that 
the wicked will be punished through the ivhole of 
this life if they remain wicked. On the same prin- 
ciple then, that it is just in God to punish the wick- 
ed at all, it is just for him to punish them forever. 
If the wicked are punished through, the whole of 
this life, because they remain wicked, then, ac- 
cording to their own principle, it will be just in 
God to punish them through the whole of the 
next life, which will be endless, if they remain 
wicked. 

That those who " die in their sins," will conti- 
nue to sin forever, appears obvious from many 
considerations. This life is very clearly set forth 
in scripture as a period of probation. After com- 
pleting their state of probation, they are found 
sinners, " fitted for destruction." If in death they 
are to be reclaimed, and possess, in another 
world, a moral character, the reverse of the one 



236 god's justice consistent 

they have formed here, then this life is not a pro- 
bationary period, and all God's dealings towards 
us here, are a perfect enigma. We have not the 
least reason to imagine that death possesses a re- 
forming influence, more efficient than any which 
God exerts upon us while living. If it does, there 
was no necessity for the death of Christ. But 
death will not change the character of men, more 
than the going from one kingdom to another. 
When they awake from the sleep of death, they 
will find their characters as unchanged as when 
they awake from a single night's sleep. Nor have 
we any reason to believe, that punishment in an- 
other world, will change men's moral character, 
and transform their hatred into love. No suffer- 
ing that the wicked experience here, has any such 
influence ; but usually the more they suffer in this 
world, the more hardened and impenitent they 
are. Sometimes the gospel comes home to men, 
when in a state of suffering, and exerts its reform- 
ing influence ; but mere suffering never does this. 
The remark of a distinguished French preacher 
fully accords with all that we have observed of the 
influence of mere suffering upon the wicked. 
" Their hatred," says he, " will increase their 
torments, and their torments will increase their 
hatred." If through the whole of this life they 
have continued to sin, notwithstanding the many 



WITH ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. 237 

reforming influences which God has exerted upon 
them, we have every reason to believe, that they 
will continue to sin forever. Can we suppose that 
there are other reforming influences, more power- 
ful than those which God has exerted upon them 
in this world ? The thought is preposterous. That 
there cannot be, is plainly intimated in that solemn 
appeal which God made to the consciousness of 
his ancient people, "What more could I have 
done to my vineyard, that I have not done in it ?" 
The same thought, also, is very clearly suggested 
in the gospel being called the " power of God un- 
to salvation," to those that believe; and in Christ 
being called " the wisdom of God, and the power 
of God." If then the wicked will continue to sin 
forever, and cherish the same enmity to God and 
his government, will not God be righteous in tak- 
ing vengeance forever ? 

IV. Either God in justice ought to reclaim and 
save sinners, as soon as they become such, or he 
is righteous in taking vengeance. 

No one, however, will presume to say that God 
is unjust, in suffering sinners to continue through 
the whole of this life to resist, and make void all the 
means of salvation, and follow their own chosen 
way: why may he not in justice then, suffer them to 
cherish their own evil hearts and " eat of the fruit 
of their own doings, forever?" If it is just for God 



238 god's justice consistent 

to suffer the wicked to continue to sin, and suffer 
for their present life time, he may in justice leave 
them to sin and suffer for their eternal life time ? 
It accords perfectly with every man's sense of jus- 
tice, if an individual decidedly and repeatedly re- 
fuse a needed benefit kindly offered him, that 
he be left to experience all the misery which may 
result from the want of it, be that misery ever so 
great or long continued. No one supposes, that 
justice or benevolence demands that it be forced 
upon him, contrary to his oft repeated refusal, and 
expressed purpose not to receive it. 

We have not now time to discuss the nature of 
the punishment of the wicked. We will only say, 
in few words, that so far as the misery of the wick- 
ed in a future state comes direct from the hand of 
God, it consists, in refusing to receive them into 
his glorious kingdom, in banishing them from his 
presence, and refusing, evermore, to exert any re- 
novating and reforming influence. The misery of 
the wicked will consist principally, in being left 
to themselves, in being " hateful, and hating one 
another," in hating God, and in experiencing all 
the misery, which it is in the nature of the corrod- 
ing passion of hatred, when unrestrained, to in- 
flict ; together with the insufferable torments of a 



WITH ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. 239 

guilty conscience. This is the worm that never 
dies, so affectingly described by Pollok : 

11 Of worm or serpent kind it something looked. 
But monstrous, with a thousand snaky heads. 
Eyed each with double orbs of glaring wrath ; 
And with as many tails, that twisted out 
In horrid revolution, tipped with stings ; 
And all its mouths, that wide and darkly gaped, 
And breathed most poisonous breath, had each a sting, 
Forked, and long, andvenemous, and sharp; 
And in its writhings infinite, it grasped 
Malignantly, what seemed a heart, swollen, black, 
And quivering with torture most intense : 
And still the heart, with anguish throbbing high, 
Made effort to escape, but could not ; for 
Howe'er it turned, and oft it vainly turned, 
Then 1 complicated foldings held it fast ; 
And still the monstrous beast with sting of head 
Or tail transpierced it, bleeding evermore." 

The misery of sinners in a future world will be 
the natural fruit of their own chosen way through 
life; the wrath they will endure will be of " their 
own treasuring up." Is God unrighteous then, 
in leaving them to experience all the misery, which 
is the inevitable result of their refusing the bless- 
ing of salvation, when it was freely offered them ? 
In short, if God has done every thing to reclaim 
and save sinners, which infinite wisdom, good- 
ness, and justice can do, and they refuse to be re- 
claimed and saved, is he not infinitely righteous, 
in leaving them unreclaimed and lost forever ? 
11 Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance ?" 



240 god's justice consistent 

We might pursue this subject much further, and 
with many other trains of thought illustrate the 
justice of God m the punishment of the wicked. 
We have however said sufficient to convince any 
mind, that is open to conviction. We will con- 
clude with one or two brief remarks. 

It will be a bitter ingredient in the cup of a sin- 
ner's misery in a future world, that he has made it 
morally impossible for God to save him. As it 
respects mere power, no doubt, God is able to an- 
nihilate or save the world. But physical omnipo- 
tence is not brought into the work of a sinner's 
salvation. It is moral omnipotence. That is 
found in the gospel, which is "the power of God." 
There are some things which physical omnipo- 
tence cannot do ; — it cannot make a thing to be, 
and not to be, — it cannot make a body to move 
backward and forward at the same time, because 
these things imply a contradiction. So there are 
some things which moral omnipotence cannot 
do ; — it cannot make a lie, truth, — it cannot make 
injustice, justice, — it cannot honor and make 
void the law in the same act, — it cannot hate and 
have fellowship with sin, for these things also im- 
ply a contradiction. Thus we say, it is morally 
impossible for God to save the finally impenitent. 
Often when a pardon has been petitioned for, by 
the friends of a criminal, the chief magistrate has 



WITH ENDLESS PUNISHMENT. 241 

returned for answer, that he could not, or had not 
the power, to grant the request. He did not mean 
that he had not the power to sit down, and write 
a pardon, which should set the prisoner at liberty, 
but that he could not consistently with the faithful 
administration of government, and the safety and 
well-being of the community over whom he pre- 
sided. Sinners, in another world, will feel that 
they have cut themselves off from salvation, that 
they have thrown themselves beyond the reach of 
mercy, and made it necessary for God to bid them 
away from his kingdom into everlasting punish- 
ment. Oh! how will this add to their despair, 
and fill them with unutterable anguish, as they 
will clearly perceive, that the peaceful sceptre of 
righteousness, which God sways over the intelli- 
2ent universe, must forever bar them from admis- 
sion into the abodes of happiness. 

No attribute or expedient of God can save sin- 
ners, if they reject the Lord Jesus Christ. Power 
cannot do it. Justice cannot do it. Mercy can- 
not do it : for when mercy disregards the good of 
the great body of the community, and contravenes 
justice and holiness, it ceases to be mercy, and be- 
comes unrighteousness. The only name given un- 
der heaven, among men, by which we must be 
saved, is the Lord Jesus Christ. Reject him and 

21 



242 god's justice consistent, &c. 

his salvation, by continued impenitence and unbe- 
lief, and you make your damnation as certain as 
God's truth, and as strong as the foundation of his 
throne. 



LECTUBE X. 



«=$ 



THE ENDLESS PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED NOT INCON- 
SISTENT WITH THE LOVE OF GOD. 



I. John iv. S. God is love. 

The manner in which the attribute of love is 
ascribed to God in our text, is very peculiar. It 
is not said that God loves, but that he is love it- 
self. This is the very natnre and essence of his 
being. All his attributes are in perfect harmony 
with his love. Not considering this, not consider- 
ing that his love is in perfect harmony with all 
the attributes of his nature, is the source of many 
of our misapprehensions about the manner in 
which God loves us, or in which we imagine he 
ought to love us. We consider love isolated, and 
not as embracing in its exercise, w^hich it actually 
does, all the moral perfections of Deity. It is of* 
ten regarded as a mere mechanical affection, and 



244 ENDLESS PUNISHMENT NOT 

not a rational attribute. A pure and rational love, 
may inflict pain, as well as give pleasure. " It is 
a weakness," says one, " it is not a love worthy 
an intelligent being, that inclines a tender mother 
to pull back the arm of him, who is about to per- 
form a violent, but salutary operation on the child 
she loves. It is a weakness, it is not a love wor- 
thy an intelligent being, that inclines a magistrate 
to pardon a criminal whose preservation will be 
an injury to society, and the sparing of whose 
life will occasion a thousand tragical deaths. " # 

Some suppose, because God is love, that he 
cannot punish men in a future world. They pro- 
fess to find insuperable difficulties in reconciling 
the idea of the love of God, with the existence of 
endless misery. For the purpose of illustration, 
we will suppose a human being possesses this 
quality in a supereminent degree. John is love ; 
the very blood that flows in his veins is love, — all 
his emotions, all his desires, all his propensities, 
all his passions, all the properties of his physical, 
intellectual, and moral nature, are in perfect har- 
mony with the purest love. And John is lovely 
too ; he is wise, and teniperate, and merciful, and 
chaste, and just. Now does it follow, because 
John is love, that he must, according to his means, 
support and associate with the inebriate ? May 

^ Saurin. 



INCONSISTENT WITH GOD's LOVE. 245 

he not, in perfect consistency with the purest love, 
despise his character, and when all the means 
consistent with reason and liberty have been used 
to reclaim him in vain, may he not leave him to 
experience all the want and misery, which are 
the natural fruit of intemperance ? Does it follow, 
because he is love, that he must if possible save 
the unjust from the penalty of a violated law ? 
May he not in perfect consistency with the purest 
love, employ means to arrest him in his course, 
spread before him the nature and influences of his 
crimes, though it may create an agony, and final- 
ly insist that the punishment he is about to suffer, 
is just and benevolent? Does it follow, because 
he is love, that he must lavish the affections of his 
heart upon the most base, and choose the compa- 
nionship of him who hesitates not to break up 
the sanctuary of his neighbor's peace, and throw 
upon scandal's clarion the fair fame of female vir- 
tue ? May he not be love, and while he would 
not wantonly inflict pain upon any human being, 
yet despise the unchaste, unmerciful, and unjust; 
and be even pleased to see a merited punishment 
awarded them ? May he not be love, and if he were 
a legislator, make good and wholesome laws, and 
guard them with suitable penalties : and if he 
were a judge, unhesitatingly pronounce sentence 
of imprisonment or death upon a criminal ? The 

21* 



246 ENDLESS PUNISHMENT NOT 

illustration is imperfect, we confess, as all such 
illustrations must be, but it may be sufficient to 
show, that a magistrate whose every feeling, and 
action is in perfect harmony with the purest be- 
nevolence, may have no fellowship, with iniquity, 
may suffer the existence of misery, and may in- 
flict merited punishment upon a criminal. 

Love, in the ordinary acceptation of the term, 
is an affection excited by some supposed worth, 
or quality in an object, which communicates 
pleasure. The love of God has been distinguish- 
ed into the love of benevolence, and the love of 
complacency. Our subsequent remarks, will go 
to show, that in neither of these senses does the 
love of God lay any foundation for the doctrine 
of universal salvation ; or that the doctrine of end- 
less punishment is not inconsistent either with 
God's love of benevolence, or his love of compla- 
cency. 

I. The endless punishment of the wicked is not 
inconsistent with God's love of benevolence. 

God's love of benevolence must lead him to 
desire the greatest good of all his intelligent crea- 
tures. It does not lead him to desire, or promote 
what unregenerate men regard as the greatest 
good, for they call evil good, and good evil. He 
may, and often does, judicially give them up to 
their choice of good things. Abraham said to 



INCONSISTENT WITH GQD's LOVE. 247 

the rich man, " Son, remember that thou in thy 
life time receivedst thy good things." He receiv- 
ed his own chosen portion. In what then con- 
sists the highest good of intelligent beings ? — not 
in the gratification of avarice, not in the indul- 
gence of lusts, not in the possession of wealth, not 
in the honors of the world, not in animal pleasure, 
nor even in any intellectual enjoyment which per- 
tains to the past, present, or future of this world. 
God is the source and centre of all the good and 
happiness of rational and intelligent beings. It con- 
sists in the glory of God, the love of God, and obe- 
dience to God. This is the great end of man ; the 
beginning and end of all that ia worthy and noble 
in man, or of man. It is the light of heaven : it 
is " their sun, that shall no more go down ; their 
moon, that never shall withdraw itself"; it is their 
glory, — their bread, so that they " hunger no 
more," — their water, so that they " thirst no 
more.' 3 Man's true happiness, — his highest hap- 
piness, cannot be separated from the glory of 
God, and love and obedience to him. AH happi- 
ness that does not arise from him, and centre in 
him, is deceitful and false, — it is like the bite of 
a serpent, or the sting of an adder. Compared 
with his true happiness, it is like the base pleas- 
ures of inebriation, or sensuality compared with 
more rational enjoyment. 



248 ENDLESS PUNISHMENT NOT 

To bring mankind to this state of pure and ra- 
tional enjoyment ? by delivering them from the 
power and dominion of sin, God has, and is, put- 
ting forth all the efforts he can, consistently with 
his moral government. That he fails to bring 
many, even to desire it, will hardly be disputed ; 
for multitudes die in unbelief — " die in their sins." 
He must treat us as rational beings, and not as 
mere automatons. If his love was manifested, in 
making us rational and accountable creatures, 
and raisins; us in the scale of being; " above the 
beasts of the field, and the fowls of the air," his 
love is manifested in treating us as such. He sets 
before us life and death, — lays before us motives, 
wide as the world and vast as eternity, for choos- 
ing life ; and calls upon us to make our choice. 
Under these influences of heaven, it finally de- 
pends upon our choice whether we enter upon 
everlasting life, or the " second death." If then, 
after a suitable trial, God fails to bring men to 
choose life and happiness, it is certainly not incon- 
sistent with the purest benevolence to banish them 
from his presence, and leave them to experience 
all the misery which must result from their delib- 
erate choice of sin. To suppose otherwise, 
would be to suppose that the love of God requires 
him to lay a force upon our wills, and to bring us 
to a state of holiness and happiness, irrespective 



INCONSISTENT WITH GOD's LOVE. 249 

of our own agency. Such a supposition conflicts 
with all the great doctrines of scripture, and is 
subversive of all rational views of a moral govern- 
ment. If we require to be treated as mere ani- 
mals, to what enjoyment can we be raised above 
that of mere animals ? Who can desire a salva-* 
tion more free, than to have it offered for our ac- 
ceptance upon the condition of " repentance to- 
wards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ." 
The most affecting exhibition of the love of 
God to our race was in giving his Son to die for 
us. " Greater love hath no man than this, that 
a man lay down his life for his friends. " # u But 
God commendeth his love towards us, in that, 
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."t 
" Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that 
he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitia- 
tion for our sins."$ But this wonderful display 
of God's love was not to force salvation upon us, 
— or to save us whether we would be saved or 
not. Such a love would not be in harmony with 
his purity and justice, or with man's elevated cha- 
racter as a rational and accountable agent. " God 
so loved the world that he gave his only begotten 
Son, that whosoever beiieveth in him should not 
perish, but have everlasting life."$ It is not then 
consistent with the love of God to save those who 

# John xv. 3. f Rom. v. 8. J 1 John iv. 10. § John hi. 16. 



250 ENDLESS PUNISHMENT NOT 

do not believe on the Lord Jesus ; nay more ; 
the love of God does require him to inflict damna- 
tion upon such. If it had been consistent with 
the purest love to have provided salvation for all 
men irrespective of their moral characters, we 
have reason to suppose that he would have done 
so. And if there were a time when he would, 
by some means, bring all men to repentance and 
faith, there is no consistency, or sense, in the text 
referred to, in limiting salvation to believers. But 
as salvation is expressly limited to believers, and 
that also, in connection with the highest and most 
glorious display of God's love, it shows as con- 
clusively as language can show, that the love of 
God, equally with the attributes of his holiness, 
and justice, will be exhibited in the final punish- 
ment of the wicked. 

If, after a suitable period of probation, it is 
found that the character and course of the wicked 
is such, as is subversive of the highest happiness. of 
other beings, and that all the means of infinite be- 
nevolence have failed to reclaim them, is it incon- 
sistent with the love of God to shpt them out from 
his presence, and the presence of all holy beings, 
and leave them to eat the fruit of their own do- 
ings forever ? How would the purest love re- 
quire an affectionate parent to conduct towards a 
vicious child, who was sowing the seeds of mis- 



INCONSISTENT WITH GOD's LOVE. 251 

rule and corruption among the members of a nu- 
merous family ? If every means failed to reclaim 
him, would not the purest love demand his sepa- 
ration from the rest of the family ? Would not 
the purest love, and desire for the happiness of all 
his subjects, require a sovereign to imprison and 
punish an incorrigibly rebellious subject? Will 
it be said, that in the government of God, the case 
is different, because God is able to subdue, and 
reclaim all men ? It remains to be proved, that 
God can do more than he does to reclaim and 
save men, consistently with his moral government. 
Indeed, to say that he can, is to say, that God 
does not now love the holiness and happiness of 
men as much as he ought, because he does not all 
that infinite benevolence might do, for their deliv- 
erance from the dominion of sin. And then, if 
love does not now do all that love might do to 
save men, how can it be proved that love ever 
will do a]l that it might do to save men ? The 
argument destroys itself. How has the love of 
God impelled him to act towards the angels that 
fell? " God spared not the angels that sinned, 
but cast them down to hell, and delivered them 
into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judg- 
ment."* How did the love of God impel hkn 
to act towards the antediluvians, and the cities of 

*2Pet. ii.4. Jude a 



252 ENDLESS PUNISHMENT NOT 

the plain ? Or is it to be supposed that God 
paused in his love, when he inflicted these terrible 
judgments ? If so, then he may pause in his love 
again, that his vindictive justice may be exercised 
towards his " enemies that would not that he 
should reign over them." Will it be said that 
their's was a temporal destruction, or at most, it 
was a destruction of their bodies only, not of their 
souls ? We answer, First, Such, certainly, was not 
the destruction of the angels, " who kept not their 
first estate, but left their own habitation." They 
are expressly said to be " reserved in chains un* 
der darkness, unto the judgment of the great day." 
Secondly, How does the supposition, that the de- 
struction of the antediluvians, and the inhabitants 
of Sodom with the neighboring cities, was only 
a temporal destruction or the destruction of their 
bodies, agree with the fact that they are set forth 
as examples to those that after should live ungod- 
ly ? Others as ungodly, and more ungodly than 
they, are not drowned nor burned as they were, 
but live in splendid palaces, die at ease on beds of 
down, and a splendid retinue attends them to the 
grave, and eulogize their memory. Thirdly, Can 
it be supposed that God was so angry with them, 
that he would not suffer them longer to live on 
the earth, and that he immediately received them 



INCONSISTENT WITH GOd's LOVE. 253 

to heaven ? Did he whip them away from the 
world by fire and flood, to receive them into an 
intimate communion and fellowship with himself 
in heaven? The curse then surely a blessing 
proved, for heaven is better than this world, under 
the best circumstances in which we can live in it. 
That the wicked will be reclaimed in or after 
death, supposes that there are means for reclaim- 
ing and saving sinners, more powerful and effi- 
cient than the gospel. Why are not these means 
now employed ? Is it not as easy for God to em- 
ploy efficient measures, at the present time, if 
there are such, as it ever will be ? If the love of 
God will ever call them into existence, why does 
it not now call them into existence ? If it is said 
that it is the change which death will produce, 
that will renovate their moral characters, why 
does not God renovate them now, by producing 
a change equivalent to death ? He can easily do 
it. Those who are alive and remain at the com- 
ing of the Lord will not sleep in death, but a 
change will be produced in them equivalent to 
death. If it is inconsistent with the love of God 
that any should finally perish, how is it consistent 
with the love of God that they should continue 
unreclaimed, the enemies of God and his truth 
and destitute of all the joys of salvation till death ? 
If there are means of salvation, consistent with 

22 



254 ENDLESS PUNISHMENT NOT 

the moral government of God and man's charac- 
ter as an accountable agent, which shall ultimate- 
ly be employed to renew and save the wicked, 
how is it consistent with the love of God to suffer 
them to die in their sins ? If it is consistent with 
the love of God that they should be suffered to 
continue unreclaimed, and under the curse of the 
law till death, by what process of reasoning can it 
be shown, that it is inconsistent with the love of 
God, that they should continue unreclaimed and 
under the curse of the law after death, even forev- 
er ? Their conversion before death, and conse- 
quent labors in the cause of truth, would not only 
contribute to their own happiness and God's glo- 
ry, but prepare them for the service and enjoy- 
ment of heaven. None of these happy influences 
will result from their being reclaimed in or after 
death. If then, we repeat, it is inconsistent with 
the love of God, that the wicked should remain 
unreclaimed and miserable after death, how can 
it be consistent with the love of God that they 
should continue in sin, treasuring up wrath, 
through their whole life time ? But as we see, it 
is consistent with the love of God towards man, 
that some of them should be suffered to walk in 
the ways of their own evil hearts, and continue in 
a state of spiritual death through their whole life 
time here ; we cannot then see, why it is not as 



INCONSISTENT WITH GOD's LOVE. 255 

perfectly consistent with his love, that they should 
continue in this state, and drink of the cup of his 
indignation, through their future life time. 

We cannot perceive the future punishment of 
the wicked to be inconsistent with the love of God, 
whatever view we take of it. Nay ; the love of 
God towards man demands it. It is only suppos- 
ed to be inconsistent with his love, for the want 
of unbiased reflection, and because love and pun- 
ishment are not usually placed in the same juxta- 
position, as anger and punishment. Yet the fact 
of their connexion may be very often observed, as 
in a kind parent inflicting punishment upon a dis- 
obedient child, and a tender hearted magistrate 
inflicting punishment upon a criminal. It is for- 
gotten that there is a time, Avhen the love of God 
shall be merged in what is called his anger. Yet 
the nature and love of God ever has remained, and 
ever will remain the same. Love was just as 
much the nature of God when he caused the earth 
to open and swallow up Korah and his company, 
as when he caused Jordan to divide and open a 
way for Israel to pass through. Love was just as 
much his nature when he rained fire upon Sodom, 
as when he rained manna around the tents of Is- 
rael. Love was just as much his nature when he 
smote Ananias and Saphira with death, as wherj 
he raised Lazarus from the grave. 



256 ENDLESS PUNISHMENT NOT 

God's love is universal. He loves the happi- 
ness of all sensitive beings. Such is the nature of 
true love in general. Hence it is said that a 
" righteous man regardeth the life of his beast." 
He would not willingly inflict pain or death upon 
him. Yet if his beast becomes ungovernable, it 
is not inconsistent with true love to inflict such 
pain upon him, as is necessary to bring him into 
subjection; and if he cannot be tamed, and en- 
dangers the lives of other animals, or the life of 
man, it is not inconsistent with true love to take 
away his life. His love for the greater happiness 
of other beings may require him to do it. Just so, 
though God does not willingly afflict the children 
of men, yet it is perfectly consistent with pure love 
for him to do it. " Whom the Lord loveth he 
chasteneth." It is necessary to correct and sub- 
due their corruptions. And when all the means 
which his infinite benevolence employs, fail to 
bring the wicked into subjection, it is not incon- 
sistent with true and universal benevolence to 
" cast them into the lake of fire, which is the sec- 
ond death." Nay; his love for the happiness of 
other beings may require him to do it, 

God's love is impartial. He loves the happiness 
of all beings according to their worth. He does 
not love the happiness of an animal, as w T ell as the 
happiness of a man or an angel^ because it is not 



INCONSISTENT WITH GOD*S LOVE. 257 

worth as much. We cannot suppose that he loves 
the happiness of an almost idiot, as much as he 
loves the happiness of a Bacon or a Locke, be- 
cause his susceptibilities and powers of enjoying 
and communicating happiness are not so great. 
Impartial love must love things according to their 
worth, otherwise it would be a mere irrational af- 
fection. God does not love the happiness of a 
part of mankind, as much as the happiness of the 
whole ; and it is as much the dictate of benevo- 
lence to cut off a part from his favor, when that 
part endangers the happiness of the whole, as to 
cut off a putrid member from a child to save its 
life. " All we are members one of another." It 
is as much the dictate of impartial benevolence to 
erect jails and penitentiaries for the unruly, as to 
erect alms-houses for the poor, or asylums for the 
insane. It is as much the dictate of impartial be- 
nevolence to provide a hell for the ungodly, as to 
provide a heaven for the righteous. If there is a 
portion of mankind who will not be reclaimed 
from their sins, and endanger the happiness and 
well-being of the universe, it is not inconsistent 
with the love of God to banish them forever from 
his presence, and the presence of all holy beings, 
and leave them to eat the fruit of their own doings 
forever. If there is a class of men, whom it is not 
benevolent and kind to suffer to be at large in «o- 

22* 



258 ENDLESS PUNISHMENT NOT 

ciety, because of the influence of their example, 
and the moral impression that would be made by 
suffering them to transgress with impunity ; we 
have just the same reason to suppose that it would 
not be benevolent in God to suffer the wicked, in 
a future world, to mingle in the society of the ho- 
ly, because of their various influences, and the 
moral impression that would be made by suffering 
them, with impunity, to trample upon God's au- 
thority and law. 

" The love of God to his creatures," says a ve- 
ry forcible writer, " is supremely disinterested. 
Indeed what interest can he have in loving us ? 
Were this world, which hath existed but a little 
while, to cease to exist ; were all the beings upon 
earth, material and immaterial, to return to non- 
entity ; were God to remain alone, he would enjoy 
infinite happiness : in possessing himself he would 
possess perfect felicity. ' Every beast of the for- 
est is his, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. 5 
Sacrificial flesh affords no nourishment to him ; 
clouds of frankincense communicate no odors to 
him ; he is not entertained with the music that is 
performed in his honor ; for ' our goodness ex- 
tendeth not to him.' The praises of seraphim can 
no more augment the splendor of his glory, than 
the blasphemies of the damned can diminish it." 

Have we treated this subject fairly ? "We have 



INCONSISTENT WITH GOd's LOVE. 259 

endeavored to do it. It is too interesting and im- 
portant, to be treated with levity, and to allow us 
to avoid any of its bearings or relations* What 
foundation, then, is there, in God's love of bene- 
volence, for the belief of the doctrine of universal 
salvation ? Will not injured and abused love be 
honored in the destruction of the enemies of the 
cross of Christ ? 

II. The endless punishment of the wicked is not 
inconsistent with God's love of complacency. 

A very few observations will be sufficient to 
settle this point. Love of complacency is esteem 
for an object, on account of those qualities which 
are agreeable to us, and calculated to afford us 
pleasure. In this sense it is perfectly plain that 
God does not love all men. On the contrary, he 
must hate some men. In reference to his compla- 
cency it is said, that he " hates all the workers of 
iniquity,"* and is " angry with the wicked every 
day."f Hence also, it is said of the wicked shep- 
herds, " My soul loathed them, and their soul ab- 
hored me."| And again, God says, " I love them 
that love rae,"i These words plainly imply that 
he does not love those that do not love him. Love 
towards God, is the foundation of " whatsoever 
things are lovely," in the eyes of all holy beings. 
A heart that is enmity to him, must be destitute of 

* Psalm v. 5. f Psalm vii. 11. | Zech. xi. 8. § Prov viii.. 17. 



ENDLESS PUNISHMENT NOT 

all those qualities upon which God can look with 
complacency. An " evil man," is a man that 
does not love God, and consequently brings forth 
none of the fruits of love; but out of the " evil 
treasure of his heart, bringeth forth evil things." 
In the impenitent and unbelieving, God perceives 
none of those qualities that are agreeable to him, 
and he cannot delight m them. To suppose it 
possible, would be to suppose that light may have 
communion with darkness, — that righteousness 
may have fellowship with unrighteousness, — and 
that Christ may have concord with Belial. A just 
man cannot with complacency love an unjust 
man, a temperate man cannot love an intemperate 
man, a chaste and virtuous man cannot love one 
who is licentious. Contraries cannot harmonize. 
We cannot love a character directly opposite to 
the one we cherish, and which affords us pleasure. 
The opposite must give us pain. If we feel com-* 
placency towards a person, there must be a simi- 
larity of taste and character with respect to those 
points in which we feel complacency. If an indi- 
vidual can, with complacency, contemplate the 
character of the unjust and impure, it is perfectly 
plain that injustice and impurity make up a part 
of his own character. We may love an individual 
on account of some qualities which we perceive 
in him, while we hate and despise certain traits 



INCONSISTENT WITH GOD's LOVE. 261 

of his character. From the very nature, therefore, 
of God, it is impossible that he should feel any 
complacency towards the impenitent and unbe- 
lieving. Their character and works are diame- 
trically opposite to the character and works of 
God. They see nothing in God that they love ; 
their " hearts are enmity against him." There 
can be nothing in them, therefore, which God re- 
gards as amiable and lovely. He pities them, and 
has manifested his pity. He desires their best 
good, and has manifested his desire in the most 
affecting manner. But unless holiness and sin 
can harmonize, he cannot with complacency love 
the impenitent. God's love of complacency, there- 
fore, lays no foundation for the belief that all men 
will be saved. The very character and aspect of 
virtue rebukes wickedness ; its every breath is 
"procul, O procul este profani." The very lan- 
guage of God's love of complacency to the wick- 
ed, is " Depart,— -depart from me ye cursed." It 
is one of those pillars of adamant which support 
the doctrine of the endless punishment of the 
wicked. 

God has shown his love of holiness, by making 
man upright, in his own image, and after his own 
likeness. Man has lost that image, and given him- 
self up to the love and service of sin. God, in in- 
finite benevolence, has put forth numerous means 



262 ENDLESS PUNISHMENT NOT 

to reclaim him, and bring him back to the love 
and service of holiness. He has done all that in- 
finite benevolence can do, to make him holy and 
happy. Many refuse to be reclaimed, spurn at 
the offers of mercy, and cherish a character at war 
with God and his government. It is not therefore 
inconsistent with the infinite love of God to ban- 
ish such from his presence, and punish them with 
an everlasting destruction. 

We have barely hinted at an argument which 
we might have illustrated, and drawn out to some 
length, — that the future punishment of the wick- 
ed will be productive of great good to the uni* 
verse at large ; and that the love of God there- 
fore to the great whole of rational being, after the 
glorious display which he has made of his perfec- 
tions to bring them to obedience and happiness, 
demands their final condemnation. This we must 
leave, and will close with a few words. 

Allow me, my impenitent friends, to call your 
minds to one serious reflection. If you perish, 
you perish under a most holy, righteous, and be- 
nevolent administration, It will be, because wis- 
dom, and power, and justice, and benevolence, 
have failed to make you turn from your evil 
thoughts and ways. We can find something to 
sustain us under the inflictions of malevolence, but 
under the angered strokes of love, whither will 



INCONSISTENT WITH GOD's LOVE. 263 

you turn for consolation ? It is the God of love 
who asks you, why you will die, who promises 
you mercy, if you will turn to him, and who, if 
you refuse, will lift his hand and swear that you 
shall not enter into his rest. It is Jesus, who 
drank the bitter cup of Gethsemane and Calvary, 
and who, for years has been saying to you, 
" Look unto me and be ye saved," who will fi- 
nally pronounce the sentence, " Depart." Will 
you constrain him to do it ? Will you abuse his 
love and make it, to you, of no effect ? Shall he 
who died that you might live, sentence you to the 
pains of the second death ? Oh ! avert such a 
dreadful issue of all his sufferings. He has 
wrought out salvation, and offered it you, and if 
by obstinate impenitence and unbelief, you refuse 
it, in love to all that is holy, and true, and just, 
and benevolent, he must condemn you. Think, 
we beseech you, before you go to the judgment, 
how dreadful will be the sound, "Depart" from 
his gracious lips. Think before you enter upon 
your eternal state, what it will be, to be shut out 
from his presence, and hope, and happiness, for- 
ever. Do not abuse his love, and trample upon 
his truth, by indulging the delusive hope that you 
shall be saved, whether you repent or not. You 
cannot be saved in impenitency. If you disbelieve 
his threatenings, it will not turn them away from 



264 ENDLESS PUNISHMENT, &C. 

you. Our first parents did not believe them, the 
inhabitants of the plain did not believe them ; but 
not one of them failed. They felt them. 

Let then, we beseech you, your " repentance 
towards God, and faith in the Lord Jesus," make 
it consistent for the God of love to gather you 
among his jewels, and plant you among his stars 
to reflect the beams of his glory. 



LECTURE XL 



GOD, GLORIOUS IN HOLINESS, IN THE ENDLESS PUNISH- 
MENT OF THE WICKED. 



Exodus xv. 11. Glorious in holiness. 

These words are a part of the song of Moses, 
occasioned by the overthrow of the Egyptians. 
Moses was an eminently holy and benevolent 
man, and would doubtless have preferred that 
Pharaoh and his people had been obedient to the 
word of the Lord and have been saved. But they 
were disobedient and were destroyed, and Moses 
rejoiced that God was glorified in their destruc- 
tion. Nay more ; in the fearful overthrow of the 
rebellious hosts of Pharaoh, he considered that 
God had made a most honorable and glorious dis- 
play of his nature and perfections. He exclaims, 
" "Who is like unto thee O Lord among the gods ? 
Who is like unto thee, glorious in holiness, fearful 

23 



266 GOD GLORIOUS IN THE 

in praises, doing wonders"? Thus when God at 
the judgment shall put all enemies under his feet, 
all the hosts of heaven will sing a song of praise to 
God, in perfect harmony with this which was in- 
dited by the Spirit of God. If God's holiness 
was gloriously displayed in the overthrow of the 
Egyptians, it will be much more gloriously dis- 
played in the final and complete overthrow of the 
wicked. 

The holiness of God consists in the purity and 
rectitude of his character, or in that perfect har- 
mony, proportion, or fitness, that subsists between 
his conduct and his relation to other beings. It 
seems to be, not so much a single perfection, as a 
spirit that difFuseth itself through them all. His 
wisdom is holy, his justice is holy, his mercy is 
holy, his benevolence is holy. Every thing per- 
taining to God is holy. When he displays his 
holiness, it were easy to show that all his moral 
perfections are exhibited in perfect harmony, so 
far, at least, as the occasion, and the circum- 
stances of the beings to whom he manifests him- 
self, requires the full developement of them. 
Hence, a display of God's holiness is eminently a 
display of his glory. It exhibits that perfect har- 
mony and fitness, which we perceive ought to sub- 
sist, between his conduct and the relations which 
he sustains. 



PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED. 267 

With these remarks we are prepared to enter 
upon our subject, which is to show that God will 
appear glorious in holiness, in the final and ever- 
lasting punishment of the wicked. 

I. He has appeared " glorious in holiness," 
in all his judgments which he has from time to 
time sent upon the wicked. Although in many 
of God's providential dealings towards men in 
this world clouds and darkness are round about 
him, yet we know they are all the offspring of 
righteousness. Righteousness and jugdment are 
the habitation of his throne. In the judgments 
which he has occasionally sent upon the wicked, 
we readily perceive the reason, the equity, and 
the consistency of his proceeding. There is a 
wisdom in them, directed to the accomplishment 
of an end, which is in perfect harmony with the 
other attributes of his holy nature. Indeed, " judg- 
ment is the application of the principle of right- 
eousness in his government of his creatures, and 
their actions ; it is a developement of his his rec- 
titude in the management of the affairs of his great 
empire ; it is that superintendence over all, where- 
by the operations of all things are directed to some 
vast and important end. Judgment implies 
equity and measure, in opposition to what is done 
without rule and consideration. All the divine 
conduct is equitable, regulated by rectitude, and 



GOD GLORIOUS IN THE 

every thing is directed by a judgment that cannot 
err."* 

In God's visitations upon the wicked, his glori- 
ous holiness, his righteousness and judgment, have 
so appeared, obscured by no clouds or darkness, 
that they have called forth songs of praise from 
the church below and from the church above. 
We have already seen that the church of God 
sang praises to his name, on account of the dis- 
play of his holiness in the destruction of Pharaoh 
and his hosts in the Red Sea. When Moses and 
the children of Israel had passed through on dry 
ground, and saw the Egyptians overwhelmed in 
the merciless waves, they sang, — " I will sing un- 
to the Lord for he hath triumphed gloriously, the 
horse and the rider hath he thrown into the sea," 
And the apostle John heard the inhabitants of 
heaven sing this same song of praise to God, for 
destroying his impenitent and incorrigible ene- 
mies. When the seven angels, who had the sev- 
en last plagues to inflict upon the wicked world 
as marks of God's just and awful displeasure, 
were prepared to pour out the vials of divine 
wrath, then John heard them u sing the song of 
Moses the servant of God and the song of the 
Lamb, saying Great and marvellous are thy works 
Lord God Almighty ; just and true are thy ways, 

# Hall. 



PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED. 269 

thou King of saints." When Isaiah had a vision 
of heaven, and the desolating judgments which 
God had sent upon the wicked on earth, he heard 
the heavenly hosts cry, one to another, "Holy, 
holy, holy is the Lord of hosts ; the whole earth 
is full of his glory." They speak of his glory as 
consisting of his holiness, and his holiness was dis- 
played in giving men over to judicial blindness, 
and in pouring upon them the vials of his indigna- 
tion. Every one must acknowledge that God 
appeared glorious in holiness in the destruction of 
the antediluvians, unless they take the blasphem- 
ous position that God has displayed his power in 
au unworthy mnner. The whole race had forsak- 
en God, — were lifting up idols in his place, 
had given themselves up to the practice of 
whatever is base and unholy, and the remem- 
brance of the true God was likely to be banished 
from the earth. Under these circumstances, 
" God lifted up himself." He whet his glittering 
sword and his hand took hold on judgment. 
With the sword of his indignation, he brake the 
incrusted earth and let forth the fountains of the 
great deep, and, opening the windows of heaven, 
he bid " deep call unto deep" in the noise of ma- 
ny waters and of mighty thunderings ; and over- 
whelmed the wicked in their desolating course of 

rebellion. Only one faithful preacher of right- 

23* 



270 



GOD GLORIOUS IN THE 



eousness was found, and him and his family he 
made ride safely upon the bosom of the waters. 
In all this we see God's holy hatred of sin, his 
fixed purpose to maintain the stability of his gov- 
ernment, and his benevolence in thus saving to 
our race the knowledge of himself, and in placing 
man upon another state of trial. In the midst of 
his indignation upon his enemies we see the 
beams of his mercy shine. In the same glorious 
manner God displayed his holiness in the destruc- 
tion of the cities of the plain — " making them ex- 
amples to those that after should live ungodly." 
Their destruction was designed to serve as a bea- 
con to warn others off from the fatal rocks on 
which they had wrecked their happiness and sal- 
vation. If then, God has glorified himself in all 
the judgments which he has as yet sent upon the 
wicked, we have reason to believe that such great 
and holy ends will be answered in his moral gov- 
ernment, as will make him appear eminently 
" glorious in holiness," in the complete and ever- 
lasting destruction of those who have obstinately 
refused to submit to his reign. 

II. That the holiness and benevolence of God 
will strikingly appear in the punishment of the 
wicked, is obvious from the fact that the heavenly 
hosts will praise him for so doing. The groans 
and agonies of the damned will be lost amid the 



PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED. 271 

approbation and praises of the holy, intelligent 
universe. The triumphal entrance of the saints 
into heaven, and the banishment of the wicked in- 
to hell, will be seen to proceed from the same 
righteous administration, and directed by the same 
infinite excellence. Isaiah and John were eye 
and ear witnesses of the feelings and language of 
heaven, in view of God's righteousness in punish- 
ing the wicked. They assure us that the heaven- 
ly hosts do actually praise God for displaying his 
holy displeasure upon the enemies of righteous- 
ness. " I heard," says St. John, " a great voice 
of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia ; sal- 
vation and glory, and honor, and power unto the 
Lord our God ; for true and righteous are his 
judgments : for he hath judged the great whore, 
who did corrupt the earth with her fornication, 
and hath avenged the blood of her servants at her 
hand. And again they said, Alleluia. And her 
smoke rose up forever and ever." The pure spi- 
rits in heaven are holy and just as God is ; and 
they feel as God feels towards himself and all his 
creatures. They love holiness and hate sin as 
God does ; and they are pleased to see him pun- 
ish sin, because thev know that whatever God 
does is best. They perceive the equity of his pro- 
ceedings. 

This view of the subject may furnish an answer 



272 GOD GLORIOX T S IN THE 

to the appeal which Universalists make to the 
sympathies of our nature. " What man," it is 
asked, " of common sensibility could endure to 
see a fellow man tormented in fire, or on the rack 
for one month, or one year ? What parent could 
take his child, and cast him into a glowing oven, 
or confine him in a gloomy dungeon for life ? But 
has not God as much goodness as man, or as 
much kindness as an earthly parent"? This is a 
favorite argument with Universalists ; and you 
perceive that the fact is entirely lost sight of, that 
God is a righteous sovereign as well as a parent, 
and as such regards the great good of his vast 
empire more than the happiness of an inconsider- 
able portion of rebels. In reply we might ask> 
What parent would drown his children ? What 
parent would burn them ? What parent would 
send upon them famine or pestilence ? But God 
has done all this to his creatures, and for the wis- 
est and best of reasons. " Is there evil in the city 
and the Lord hath not done it"? Or we might 
ask, What parent would see a vicious child carry 
insubordination and crime into a numerous family 
and the surrounding community, and not rather, 
as he saw a curse and withering influence attend 
all his steps, hand him over to the proper authori- 
ties and see him shut up in prison ? Would he 
not sacrifice his liberty and happiness whom nei- 



PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED. 273 

ther favor nor entreaty could reclaim, for the sake 
of the virtue and happiness of all the rest? In 
the punishment of the wicked, holy beings will 
see virtue guarded — kindled into a brighter ra- 
diance, and the salvation of the universe defend- 
ed. Although they are possesed of the purest be- 
nevolence and the most melting kindness, yet they 
will praise and glorify God when the smoke of 
the torment of the wicked ascendeth up forever 
and ever. " Who is like unto thee O Lord among 
the gods ? Who is like unto thee, glorious in ho- 
liness, fearful in praises, doing wonders"? 

III. That God will appear " glorious in holi- 
ness," in the everlasting punishment of the wick- 
ed, appears from the fact that he was glorified in 
the sufferings of Christ. " Father, glorify thy 
name," was the prayer of our Saviour in full view 
of all the agonies he was about to endure ; and 
then there " came a voice from heaven, saying, I 
have both glorified it and will glorify it again." 
Now, if God teas glorified in the sufferings of the 
innocent who was substituted for the guilty, it is 
clear that he will be glorified in the sufferings of 
the guilty themselves, who scorufidly reject the sub- 
stitute. 

The sufferings of our Lord were penal. They 
were the consequence of sin ; not his own, for he 
himself was "holy, harmless and undefiled," but 



274 GOD GLORIOUS IN THE 

of the sin of those for whom he died. He " drank 
of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured 
out without mixture into the cup of his indigna- 
tion," that he might satisfy the law and become 
" the end of it for righteousness to every one that 
believeth," The dignity of his character gave im- 
portance and efficacy to his sufferings, and in a 
manner which displays the wisdom of God, by 
showing the value of his law, the indissoluble con- 
nection between sin and misery, and his fixed pur- 
pose not to pass it by without satisfaction. The 
holy attributes of his nature could not gather into 
a deeper frown of indignation against sin by the 
everlasting punishment of the wicked, than they 
did in the exceeding sorrow of the Redeemer's 
soul, and the unparallelled sufferings he endured. 
The moral impression which they have produced 
with respect to God's inexorable justice, his invin- 
cible hatred of sin, the necessity of punishment, 
and his inflexible purpose to maintain the severi- 
ties of his law, could not be heightened. Sinai 
never uttered more angry tones against rebellion, 
than did the agonies of Calvary. Those then who 
reject its proffered mercy, must be forever cut off 
from all hope of sinning with impunity. This im- 
pression would be destroyed, and none of these 
glorious truths would radiate from the Cross, if it 
extended salvation to the impenitent. If God ap- 



PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED. 275 

peared glorious in holiness in pouring out the vi- 
als of his indignation upon the head of his inno- 
cent Son, because he was " numbered with the 
transgressors," and " bare the sin of many," he 
will appear glorious in holiness in the everlasting 
punishment of those who refuse to be won to ho- 
liness by the reforming and redeeming expedient 
of his atoning sacrifice, concentrating as it does, 
the " wisdom and the power of God." 

IV. That God will be glorified in the destruc- 
tion of the wicked, appears from the relation that 
subsists between God and man. We will con- 
fine ourselves to a single thought. Between us 
and God there are the relations of a lawgiver and 
subject. What ought to be the conduct of God 
towards us in this relation ? What does reason 
teach us that the fitness of things requires ? He 
is bound to give us equitable laws, and righteous- 
ly to maintain them. It is inconsistent with his 
character as a legislator and with our character as 
free and rational beings, that he should lay a force 
npon our wills and constrain obedience. 

" Our voluntary service he requires, 
Not our necessitated." 

Says Robert Hall, "All moral government has 
its foundation in the suitability of its laws and mo- 
tives to regulate and influence a creature endued 



276 GOD GLORIOUS IN THE 

with reason, understanding, and volition. All 
that is necessary in the government of such a 
creature as man, is that the law should be equita- 
ble, and that man should be originally possessed 
of faculties which render him capable of obedi* 
ence. Were we to go farther, and suppose that 
the governor is obliged to see his law fulfilled, 
this would make him accountable to his own law, 
while the accountability of the creature would be 
destroyed. If the creature, besides having a right- 
eous law and powers capable of obedience, must 
also be kept from the possibility of disobeying, the 
rule would return back, and become binding upon 
him that gave, rather than upon him who received 
it." It will readily be perceived then, that God 
is under as much obligation to exact satisfaction 
for disobedience, as (he is to give us laws suited to 
our nature and condition. The glorious holiness 
of God appears as much in punishing transgress 
sion, as in giving us a law in itself " holy, just, and 
good." When these things are considered, to- 
gether with the clear manifestations of the sinner's * 
guilt, which will appear at the judgment, we can- 
not doubt that God will appear infinitely glorious 
in pronouncing sentence of condemnation upon 
the incorrigibly wicked. 

We have all read of instances where persons 
have been arrested for crime,, concerning whom 



PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED. 277 

there was a deep conviction on the public mind, 
and a strong probability that they were innocent. 
Such persons have been tried, and when, upon in- 
sufficient evidence, they have been pronounced 
" guilty," the verdict has been received with loud 
murmurs of dissatisfaction, and marked tokens of 
displeasure. When such persons have been ex- 
ecuted, the government, in the eyes of the com- 
munity, has been dishonored, its power weakened, 
and a real injury inflicted upon society. On the 
other hand, when bold and daring offenders have 
been arrested, concerning whose guilt there exist- 
ed not a doubt, and when upon the clearest evi- 
dence they have been pronounced " guilty," the 
verdict has been received with eclat, and sentence 
has been executed upon them with an universal 
burst of approbation : — the government has been 
honored, good secured, and law and righteousness 
maintained. Now in the final condemnation of 
the wicked, the evidence of their guilt will appear 
so plain, so aggravated, so great, — the kindness 
shown them will appear in such a light, and their 
obstinacy will look so unreasonable, and their con- 
demnation will seem so necessary, that it will meet 
the hearty approbation of all the holy throng that 
witness it. God will appear " glorious in holi- 
ness." What ! pardon rebels who have refused 
pardon ? who through a long life of probation have 

24 



278 GOD GLORIOUS IN THE 

trampled upon law, trampled upon the gospel, 
trampled upon Christ, trampled upon the Spirit, 
trampled upon truth ; who have stopped their 
ears to the voice of warning and entreaty, who 
have " hardened their necks against reproof," and 
put at defiance all the means of infinite mercy to 
reclaim and save them ? All heaven would stand 
aghast. No ; when sentence is pronounced, the 
angels will cry, "Let them be anathema !"* All 
the attributes of God will appear in perfect har- 
mony, and shine with ineffable brightness. 

Righteous laws and a righteous administration 
honor, just as bad laws and a bad administration 
dishonor a government. Suppose a government, 
as we are told is the case in Spain, where the wit- 
ness of a crime is shut up in prison until the trial 
of the criminal, which is often delayed for a great 
length of time. The influence of such law and 
administration is, that whenever the cry of mur- 
der is heard every man flees into some dwelling 
to escape noticing a crime, that he may also es- 
cape imprisonment as a witness. In addition to 
this, suppose that in this same government the as- 
sassin may escape punishment by the payment of 
a sum of money ? Such a government appears 
weak, unjust, and contemptible. It gives facility 
to crime — it ministers to rebellion. On the other 
hand, where the commission of crime can scarce* 

# 1 Cor. xvi. 22. Gal. i. 8, 9. Jude 14 ; 15. 



PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED. 279 

ly escape detection and a just punishment, and 
where life, and property, are guarded by penalties 
proportioned to their value, the government stands 
high in the praise of the civilized world. Every 
one perceives that there is a righteous consistency 
in such proceeding between the governors and 
the governed. 

Suppose a sovereign bestows equal honors and 
favors on the bad and unworthy, that he does on 
the good and worthy ; the man of blood receives 
equal approbation with the man of mercy, the man 
who sells his official decisions, the same marks 
of honor with him who " shaketh his hands from 
holding of bribes"; does such a magistrate appear 
honorable ? Is there any harmony or fitness be- 
tween his conduct and his relation to the commu- 
nity over which he presides ? But suppose a sov- 
ereign, on the other hand, who, while he bestows 
suitable rewards and honors on the faithful and 
honorable, is vigilant in seeking out those who 
are scattering abroad misery and corruption ; who 
deals out justice with an even hand to the man of 
perjury, the man of bribes, and the man of blood. 
Does he not appear honorable, and cover himself 
with glory just in proportion as he distinguishes 
between the good and the vile, and renders to all 
according to their personal rights and demerits ? 
Just so God appeared as a holy and righteous sov- 



280 GOD GLORIUOS IN THE 

ereign in destroying Pharaoh and in saving Israel, 
in destroying the antediluvians and in saving No- 
ah, in destroying Sodom and in saving Lot ; and 
just so he will appear " glorious in holiness, fear- 
ful in praises, and doing wonders," in finally sav- 
ing the righteous and punishing the wicked. 

V. God will be glorified in punishing the wick- 
ed, because it will be seen, that in sentencing them 
to u . everlasting fire," he has sentenced them to 
the only place in the universe for which they are 
prepared. 

In the other world there are but two states, the 
one that of holiness and happiness, and the other 
that of sin and misery. For the holiness and hap- 
piness of heaven they are no more fitted than a 
blind man is fitted for sights of beauty, or a deaf 
man for sounds of harmony. They will be found 
fitted for destruction only. In this world they 
have brought forth no fruit, nor would they in 
heaven. Here they have cumbered the ground, 
and so they would the soil of paradise. It is just 
as easy to comply with the terms of salvation here, 
as it would be for them to enjoy salvation in hea- 
ven ; and if they can find no happiness in doing 
w T hat God bids them now, they can find none in 
what God shall bid them hereafter. If the ap- 
pearance of holiness is distasteful and casts a 
gloom over them here, the full blaze of it in heav« 



PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED. 281 

en would come over them like the chill of death. 
If what they have seen and heard of God, and if 
the means which he has employed, have failed to 
prepare ihem for his presence and glory, what they 
would see of him in heaven would fail to do it ; 
for they would see more clearly those glorious 
attributes and works, which have called forth 
their dislike, and roused their enmitv. If no 
change of place or circumstances have made it 
any more easy for them to repent, believe in, and 
love God, merely removing them from this to the 
other world would not do it. Heaven would not 
afford them as much happiness even as the Sab- 
bath and the sanctuary, or the meeting of prayer 
and praise, because in heaven there will be more 
of that which renders these things distasteful. 
Through their whole period of probation they 
have consorted with the enemies of God, have 
avoided his presence, have disbelieved and hated 
his word, have disrelished his Sabbaths, have pro- 
faned his name, have disputed his truth, have con- 
temned his holiness, opposed his work, and turn- 
ed their backs upon his heaven and upon all the 
spiritualities of his service. There is no place in 
the universe for which they have fitted themselves, 
but hell. They have diligently cultivated its spir- 
it, learned its dialect, engaged in its business, and, 

like dry fuel, are fitted for its flames. Violence 

24* 



282 



GOB GLORIOUS IN THE 



would be done to their moral natures, to send 
them any where else. Were there not a harmo- 
ny of spirit and feeling between them and the 
devil and his angels, God would not send them 
to the place prepared for them. They are good 
for nothing but to be cast into the fire. By send- 
ing them there God will display his holiness, and 
his love for the happiness of the intelligent uni- 
verse. They may serve as a warning against the 
arts of every seducing spirit upon other beings. 
There will be nothing like malice or want of kind- 
ness, or any weakness that may dishonor a human 
magistrate, in punishing the wicked with everlast- 
ing destruction. There will be a perfect harmo- 
ny and fitness between his conduct and the rela- 
tion he holds to them that are cast off. They are 
fitted to destruction — fitted to it, in despite of all 
the benevolence and mercy of God to save them 
from it — in despite of means which have filled the 
angels with wonder and admiration. " Who is 
like unto thee O Lord among the gods ? Who is 
like unto thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in prai- 
ses, doing wonders"? 

VI. God will appear glorious in holiness in 
sentencing the wicked to everlasting punishment, 
because at the judgment the evil nature of sin 
will be fully developed. 

Sin will not then appear, even to sinners, as it 



PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED. 283 

does now. Every extenuating circumstance will 
be removed, and all the darkness with which it 
envelops itself will be dissipated. It will lose its 
power of deception. It will be brought forth 
from its hiding place, and the light of eternal day 
will be poured upon it. Its end will be manifest, 
and all the evils, which it is in its nature to pro- 
duce, will be developed. When the light of hea- 
ven shall be seen " pouring a flood of glory from 
its wide, open gates, spreading continual meridian 
day far and wide through the regions of ethereal 
space," which sin, if unrestrained, would have 
turned into the blackness of darkness forever, 
when the songs of the redeemed and of the angels 
shall be heard in sweetest harmony, enrapturing 
with their melody the spirits of the just, which it 
was the aim of sin to silence, and to send forth in 
their stead lamentation and wailing : when the 
peace and joy every where diffused through all 
the hosts of the obedient shall be seen, which sin 
would have turned into weeping and gnashing of 
teeth; when the glory of God shall appear, shin- 
ing with such ineffable brightness, as that suns and 
stars shall appear only as small particles proceed- 
ing from it, and embodying all the happiness of 
intelligent being, at which sin lifted its daring and 
destructive hand, then will its hatefulness and its 
malignity be seen, and the glory of God will be 



284 GOD GLORIOUS IN THE 

manifested in barring it with gates of adamant 
from the celestial city. 

Should the great Judge of all, when about to 
pronounce sentence upon the wicked, ask of the 
holy multitudes assembled to witness the dread 
proceeding, " Shall sentence of eternal condem- 
nation pass upon this class of intelligent beings ? 
have I exercised sufficient benevolence and mercy 
towards them ? is there any thing that I can do 
that I have not done to redeem them ? — my Son, 
the brightness of my glory, has died, my Spirit 
has strove with them, my Providence warned, 
and my messengers entreated, but they have prov- 
ed incorrigible: — say, ye redeemed, say, ye angels, 
say, all ye holy throng, shall sentence pass, or 
shall they be set at liberty to carry their work of 
moral desolation and death throughout my vast 
empire ? With hearts throbbing with enmity to- 
wards me and my government, say, shall they be 
received among you ? Remember, there are no 
means more powerful to correct them than what I 
have employed, consistent with their character 
as rational and accountable beings; — say then 
shall the pit close upon them and stay the further 
progress of rebellion forever"? What voice do 
we hear ? " Give them according to their deeds 
and according to the wickedness of their endeav- 
ors ; give them after the work of their hands, ren- 



PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED. 285 

der to them their desert." 1 * And when sentence 
is passed, and they are cast into the " lake of fire 
which is the second death," and the " smoke of 
their torment" ascends, will not one voice of ap- 
probation and praise proceed from them all, 
" Amen, Alleluia"! " Who is like unto thee O 
Lord, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, do- 
ing wonders"? 

From our subject, thus illustrated, we will make 
a few concluding remarks. 

1st. We see that God will lose nothing in the 
destruction of the wicked. No gem will be taken 
from his crown — no lusture from his diadem of 
beauty. He will be as much glorified in the de- 
struction of those that perish, as in the salvation 
of those, who, as u brands plucked out of the 
fire," will be kindled up to shine as stars forever 
and ever. A magistrate is as much honored* in 
punishing offenders as in protecting the good. 
Should he fail to accomplish either the one or the 
other, he would sacrifice his honor. His honor is 
perfected by visiting offenders with condign pun- 
ishment, and by rendering to the sober and up- 
right suitable protection and rewards. God can 
glorify himself in the salvation of all, if they will 
embrace the mercy offered them: if they refuse, 
he will glorify himself in their destruction. Will 

* Ps. xxviii. 4. 



286 GOD GLORIOUS IN THE 

any one then adopt the language of unreconcil- 
able dislike, and say, " If God will be glorified in 
my destruction, I shall have no reason to com- 
plain?" No ; you have no reason to complain of 
God, and never will have ; but you will have infi- 
nite reason to complain of yourselves that you 
have made your destruction necessary; yes, you 
will complain, and complain forever, when your 
flesh and your body are consumed, saying, "How 
I hated instruction, and my heart despised re- 
proof." 

2. Sinners, in a future world, will not have the 
consolation of being regarded as unfortunate be- 
ings. Such considerations have often carried con- 
solation to the bosoms of the really unfortunate. 
They have found some support amid their suffer- 
ings from the sympathies of the community. But 
sinners will feel themselves, and know, that they 
are regarded by all the good, as criminals whom 
justice and benevolence would not suffer to rove 
amid the green fields and flowers of paradise. 
Criminals have often held up their heads, and been 
cheered with hope previous to conviction, but 
when the stigma of guilt has been fixed upon 
them, and loud murmurs of condemnation have 
greeted them from every quarter, and every coun- 
tenance has pronounced them guilty, they have 
sunk in utter despair, and their crimes have ap- 



PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED. 287 

peared in such a terrible light, as to appal and 
overwhelm them. The wrath which the impeni- 
tent will endure, will be M without mixture" of any 
consideration to cheer and support them. That 
they have destroyed themselves will be a thought 
not the least painful, amid the overwhelmning re- 
flections which will harrow up their souls. 

God now entreats and commands all men to let 
him glorify himself in their salvation ; and I ask, 
my dear friends, with sincere desires for your ho- 
liness and happiness, Will you ? will you become 
a shining gem in the Saviour's crown ? Will you 
enter upon the path that conducts to an unfading 
inheritance of glory ? Will you renounce the 
world and sin, for heaven and holiness ? Will you 
leave the enemies of the cross, and come over on 
the Lord's side, and confess him before men, that 
he may confess you before his Father and the ho- 
ly angels ? O go into your closet and return an 
answer to Him, who with melting tenderness asks, 
" Why will ye die?" 



LECTURE XII. 



t'NlVERSALISM REJECTED BY THE PIOUS. 



Ezekiel xiii. 22. Because with lies ye have made the heart of the 
righteous sad, whom I have not made sad, and strengthened the hands 
of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by 
promising him life. 

These words the prophet Ezekiel was directed 
to address to " the daughters of his people," who, 
together with the prophets, were crying peace to 
the wicked, to whom there was no peace. The 
sincerely pious were afflicted and made sad by 
the ruin, which they plainly saw such a course of 
proceeding would bring upon many. Knowing 
the nature and influence of divine truth, they well 
knew that the prophets spoke not the word of the 
Lord, but " out of their own hearts." Having 
" their senses exercised to discern both good and 
evil,"* the righteous very readily distinguished 

* Heb. v. 14. 
25 



290 UNIVERSALISM REJECTED 

between truth and falsehood. So Jesus Christ 
testified before Pilate, " Every one that is of the 
truth heareth my voice. "* Speaking of himself 
as the good shepherd he says that his sheep hear 
and know his voice, and " a stranger," says he, 
" they will not follow; but will flee from him; 
for they know not the voice of strangers." By 
the voice of Christ, we understand, his words. 
Christians know them. They approve and love 
them. However specious errors may appear, 
they want the sweetness, richness, and heavenly 
savor of divine truth. They are " unstable souls" 
who are beguiled by them. They are children, 
untaught in the school of Christ, who are " car- 
ried about by every wind of doctrine." The 
great truths which Jesus Christ came to establish 
so enter into the experience of christians, and are 
so well adapted to all their wants and feelings, that 
they quickly catch and know the sound of them, 
and readily distinguish between them and the 
" doctrines and commandments of men." 

The words of our text are peculiarly calculated 
to describe the feelings with which christians re- 
gard the dogma of universal salvation. When 
they hear of its being promulgated it makes them 
sad, because they know it strengthens the wicked 
in their wickedness, and keeps them from turning 

# John xviii. 37. 



BY THE PIOUS. 291 

from their evil way. They regard it as a moral 
poison, which, if left to work its natural results, is 
destructive of holiness, and happiness, and final 
salvation. They cannot see such a cup of poison- 
ous sweetness put to the lips of men without hor- 
ror. To men in their unconverted state it is per- 
fectly agreeable. It is an anodyne to their fears, 
an opiate to their consciences, a tonic to their 
hopes, and a stimulus to all their unholy propen- 
sities and passions. Those who embrace it are 
" as when an hungry man dreameth, and behold 
he eateth ; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty ; 
or, as when a thirsty man dreameth, and behold 
he drinketh ; but he awaketh and behold he is 
faint, and his soul hath appetite."^ So these, 
when they awake to eternal realities, will find 
themselves " wretched, and miserable, and poor, 
and blind, and naked." All their expectations 
are a dream. 

It is a fact, worthy "the most serious considera- 
tion, that the sincerely pious universally repudiate 
the whole system of Universalism. Indeed, the 
doctrine of an instantaneous and radical change 
in man's moral nature is treated bv Universalists 
as an idle tale. None of those truths which take 
hold of a sinner, and arrest him in his course of 
sin, and beget in him a love of God and holiness, 

Isaiah xxix. 8. 



292 UNIVERSALISM REJECTED 

are believed, or taught by them. They may have 
what they call piety. To any sober, moral man 
among them, they will point as a pattern of what 
they call godliness. But orthodox christians cannot 
find, in any of them, those peculiar views and feel- 
ings which designate a man as a child of God, — no 
deep sense of the odiousness of sin, no thirsting af- 
ter holiness, no warm and animating love to Christ, 
and firm reliance on his atoning sacrifice for sal- 
vation, and no tender compassion for souls, with 
corresponding efforts for their salvation. As soon 
as any among them are convicted of sin and con- 
verted, they unhesitatingly leave the ranks of 
Universalists, and look upon their doctrines as ir- 
rational, criminal, and destructive. They mourn 
over those corruptions which first led them to em- 
brace it, and they grieve exceedingly to know that 
it is taught and believed by others. Let a Uni- 
versalist go into any christian society and preach 
his doctrines, and at once it casts a gloom over all 
the pious. It makes them " sad." And it is not a 
hypochondriacal affection : there is good reason 
why the righteous should be sad when they witness 
the promulgation of such sentiments. To this point 
we will attend. 

I. The righteous are made sad by the promul- 
gation of the dogma of universal salvation, be- 
cause it is not true. " What !" says a Universa- 



BY THE PIOUS. 293 

list, " does it make the heart of the righteous sad 
to hear that all men are going to be saved ? What 
a heart must that be that is made sad by such joy- 
ful tidings ?" Stop, my friend. The heart of 
the righteous is made sad, because such a decla- 
ration is false, and the salvation of many is en- 
dangered by it. Suppose a pestilence were rag- 
ing, and it were clearly ascertained that there was 
but a single article in the whole compass of mate- 
ria medicaj that would subdue the disease and 
save its victims. Suppose an individual should 
come into this community, professing to be a phy- 
sician, and persuade many to believe that there 
was no danger to be apprehended from the pesti- 
lence, that there was no necessity of using the ar- 
ticle in question, and that, if the disease were let 
alone, it would work its own cure. Would it not 
make the heart of the benevolent sad to hear such 
an error propagated, whieh would certainly prove 
destructive to ail who should believe it ? Now a 
dreadful moral disease is raging in our world, 
which, if not cured, issues in all the horrors of the 
second death. It is clearly ascertained that a time- 
ly application, by repentance and faith, to the 
blood of Christ alone, will effect our deliverance. 
Universalists say that there is no danger of a fatal 
issue — that the disease will work its own cure, if 
no application is made to the blood of Christ. Ma- 

25* 



294 UNIVERSALIS REJECTED 

ny believe it, and in consequence perish. This is 
what makes the hearts of the righteous sad. The 
dogma of universal salvation is false, utterly false, 
— without the shadow of any thing to support it. 
That there is nothing to sustain it in scripture, or 
reason, or the analogy of nature, we have endeav- 
ored to prove, and we think have proved it to 
every candid mind. 

That the wicked are not punished in this life ac- 
cording to their deserts, is not only proved by the 
plainest scripture testimony, but by facts. They 
often prosper in the world, and enjoy all that un- 
regenerate hearts can wish through a whole life 
time. They receive their good things in this life, 
— all the good things they Avill ever receive. After 
death, comes the judgment. It is the final end of 
sinners, and not any circumstances of their life 
time, which will evince their folly and God's anger 
towards them.^ The final end of the righteous will 
also show that, notwithstanding their trials, they 
have chosen "the good part which never shall be 
taken away from them." 

II. The promulgation of Universalism makes the 
heart of the righteous sad, because it u strength- 
ens the hands of the wicked that he should not re- 
turn from his wicked way." Its direct influence 
is to encourage men to continue in impenitency 
and unbelief, to neglect the salvation of their souls, 

Psalm lxxiii. 3-20. 



BY THE PIOUS. 295 

and disregard all the claims of God. It never 
awakens the consciences of men, nor arouses them 
to a sense of guilt, nor constrains them to restitu- 
tion. Men embrace the system, not because it 
commends itself to their understanding, but to al- 
lay their fears, and sustain themselves in their 
wickedness. Why else, should they embrace it ? 
The gospel freely offers salvation to the penitent 
and believing. It puts it within the reach of all 
who are willing to turn from their sins, and em- 
brace its doctrines, and practice its duties. This 
they are unwilling to do, and they cannot live in 
peace in their evil course, with the judgment and 
an awful retribution before them. What shall 
they do ? Universalism meets them with the pro- 
mise of peace and salvation, let them do what they 
will. It is just what they desire. It levies no tax 
upon their corruptions. The only consideration, 
which has weakened their hands in rebellion, it 
removes. Men are very easily persuaded to be- 
lieve what they wish to be true. And in the belief 
of Universalism no one ever thinks of turning from 
his own chosen way. The course of sin is too 
promising, and too agreeable to one's unrenewed 
nature, to be abandoned without forcible and sub- 
stantial reasons. Universalism offers no such rea- 
sons. It is because the way of salvation revealed 
in the gospel requires them to break off their sin, 



296 UNIVERSALISM REJECTED 

that they reject it. Universalism makes no such 
demand. The belief of it strengthens them in their 
wickedness. "Why should it not ? If it did not, 
it would present a point in the philosophy of mo- 
rals very difficult to be solved. Like causes pro- 
duce like effects. That the promise of transgress- 
ing human laws with impunity, or with the pros- 
pect of no other punishment than the remorse of 
one's own conscience, would strengthen the hands 
of offenders, every one perceives ; and that it 
should not produce the same influence in reference 
to the divine law would be very strange. The 
righteous cannot see such influences put in opera- 
tion without feeling sad. Men are naturallv so 
much in love with sin, and so unwilling to part 
from it, as to render their conversion very doubt- 
ful ; but when they are strengthened in their wick- 
edness, by the promise of life, their case is render- 
ed still more hopeless. 

III. The promulgation of Universalism makes 
the heart of the righteous sad, because its influ- 
ence goes to lead men to destruction. 

How has the belief of it by our first parents 
blighted the joys and blessings of our world! 
Strange that any individual can be persuaded to 
believe the doctrine of universal salvation, when 
it is so exactly in accordance with the language of 
that " old serpent, the devil," to our first mother. 



BY THE PIOUS. 297 

It seems to have been a principal cause of the 
destruction of the rich man in the gospel. This 
we gather from his discourse with Abraham. He 
plainly intimates his fixed belief that if his five 
brethren could be persuaded to believe that there 
was a place of torment in a future state, they 
would endeavor to avoid it. Had he believed it, 
therefore, he would have " framed his doings" to 
turn away from it. There are probably many 
thousands, who are unwilling to acknowledge 
themselves Universalists, because of the general 
character and standing of that community, who 
are more than half believers in the doctrine. It 
serves to keep them out of the way of the means 
of grace, quiets their fears, and renders them im- 
pervious to the truth. It is as certainly a plain 
and open way to destruction, as the cordial belief 
of the truth is a plain and open way to salvation. 
As a confirmed and hearty belief of the truth 
makes one's salvation sure, so a confirmed and 
hearty belief of this dreadful error will make one's 
damnation sure. It is most obviously one of 
those " strong delusions," to which God sometimes 
gives some men over, " that they may be damn- 
ed," on account of their obstinate and wilful re- 
jection of the truth. No man, who desires the 
salvation of his fellow men, can hear of this doc- 
trine being preached, and see men embrace it, 



298 UNIVERSALISM REJECTED 

without feeling sad. There is no system of error, 
the settled belief of which, will more certainly 
lead men to damnation. In just the proportion 
that we desire the salvation of our fellow men, 
shall we mourn, and weep, and be in heaviness, 
to see men taken in this snare of the devil. 

There can be no salvation where there is no de- 
liverance from sin. What is salvation ? It is 
said of Christ, " His name shall be called Jesus, 
for he shall save his people from their sins." 
" Unto you first," said Peter to the Jews, " God 
having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless 
you, in turning away every one of you from his 
iniquities." P Deliverance from sin is the great 
blessing of the gospel. It is incipient salvation : 
it is the beginning of that great salvation which 
shall be perfected in heaven. To the heart of 
every christian this is the greatest blessing con- 
ceivable, It enters into all their prayers, their 
hopes, their Joys, and will be the crowning tri- 
umph of all their conflicts. Universalism brings 
no such deliverance. No one will pretend that 
the the belief of it. has weakened his love of sin, 
or delivered him from its power. It belittles sin, 
and denies it to be deserving of any other punish- 
ment than the miseries of the present life. Alas, 
— it is called universal salvation, but where is the 

* Acts iii. 26. 



BY THE PIOUS, 299 

salvation that it brings ? "Where is the individu- 
al who will say, that since he was induced to em- 
brace it, sin has appeared exceedingly odious, that 
he has panted for deliverance from it, and has 
maintained a daily and hourly conflict with it ? 
Will any one say that the belief of Universalism 
has caused him to " hunger and thirst after right- 
eousness"? that it has made holiness appear inde- 
scribably beautiful, so that, if heaven were not a 
place of holiness, it would lose all its glory, and 
be destitute of every thing which now makes it 
the object of his fervent expectations and desires? 
No one will pretend that Universalism produces 
these results. Where then is the salvation it 
talks of ? If it brings no present deliverance 
from sin and misery, who will trust it for a future 
deliverance ? Its legitimate influence is, to keep 
men under the curse of the law. This position is 
capable of as clear a proof, as that light and heat 
follow from the presence of the sun. It is proved 
by its nature — it is proved by facts. Call it uni* 
versal salvation ! Call evil good, call darkness 
light, call bitter sweet, with the same propriety. 
Call it any thing but salvation. Its nature, and 
well known influence, is to destroy. Like the 
first preacher of it, it goes about seeking whom it 
may devour. It helps to keep men in unbelief, 
so that they are " condemned already," and it 



300 UNIVERSALISM REJECTED 

helps to carry men into the other world in unbe- 
lief, so that " they shall be damned." The right- 
eous perceive this — they perceive that Universal- 
ism leads its victims in the broad road to destruc- 
tion, and it makes them sad ; they regard sin as 
the greatest of all evils, and they perceive that 
Universalism belittles sin, and it makes them sad; 
they regard deliverance from sin as the greatest 
conceivable blessing, and they perceive that the 
influence of Universalism goes to establish the do- 
minion of sin, and make sure the damnation of its 
victims, and it makes them sad. 

IV. The promulgation of Universalism makes 
the heart of the righteous sad, because it makes 
the atonement of Christ, not the " wisdom of 
God," but a piece of folly. 

Mary was sad at the sepulchre. "Woman, 
why weepest thou"? said the angels. " She saith 
unto them, because they have taken away my 
Lord, and I know not where they have laid him." 
Universalism takes away the Lord. If its influ- 
ences were unrestrained, and universal, it would do 
to Jesus Christ what the Jews contemplated at his 
crucifixion: it would blot out all that is precious 
in his name. It would roll a great stone at the 
door of the sepulchre, which angels could not 
move, and prevent forever the triumphs of the 
cross. It aims a blow at the foundation of all the 



BY THE PIOUS. 301 

hopes, and joys of the righteous. Say not that I 
am severe. I am speaking of sentiments, not 
men. I would, indeed, that I might speak a dag- 
ger through the heart of a system, which itself 
aims daggers at every truth which christians hold 
most sacred. Universalism denies the divinity of 
Christ, — it denies that he and the Father are 
equal, — it denies the necessity and efficacy of his 
atoning sacrifice to satisfy justice, to magnify the 
law 7- , to exhibit God's holy hatred of sin, and final- 
ly to save those who apply to it by repentance 
and faith. Is not this taking away the Lord ? Is 
not this making the atoning sacrifice of Christ the 
foolishness, and not the wisdom of God ? Univers- 
alism says that the wicked can be, and are, pun- 
ished all that their sins deserve, in this life ; and 
being here punished for their sins, they may claim 
heaven as a matter of right and justice. It, in re- 
ality, counts the blood of Christ an unholy thing, 
and tramples it under foot, and denies that it has 
any more virtue to cleanse and save from sin, than 
the blood of a prophet, or an apostle. I do not 
aver that all who are inclined to believe in the 
dogma of universal salvation, say, or fully appre- 
hend, that such is Universalism. But I say that 
such are the sentiments of its leaders, and the le- 
gitimate results of its main position. If any point 

is denied I hold myself readv to prove it by the 

26 



302 UNIVERSALISM REJECTED 

clearest evidence. It makes the heart of the 
righteous sad to see the wisdom of God treated as 
folly — to see Jesns Christ crucified afresh, and 
spit upon and put to an open shame, and souls 
turned away from the only name given under 
heaven whereby we must be saved, and hunted 
from the only foundation on which we can with 
safety build a hope of heaven. 

V. Universalism makes the heart of the right- 
eous sad, because it grieves the Spirit of God. 
Without the Spirit it is impossible to make in the 
heart of a sinner a deep and effectual conviction 
of sin. No human instrumentality can " convince 
of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.'' The 
Spirit alone can pour such light upon the mind, as 
to show a sinner clearly the vanity of the world, 
the beauty of holiness, tbe odiousness of sin, and 
the excellency and importance of divine truth. 
No agency but the Spirit can work repentance 
and faith in the heart of man, and effectually turn 
him to the Lord. Without the Spirit of God to 
convict, and convert, and sanctify, and save, our 
whole race must perish in their sins. Such are 
the teachings of the Scriptures. Every sincere 
christian is feelingly and deeply convinced of 
these truths. 

"Universalism denies the necessity of the Spirit's 
influences, and maintains that the light of human 



BY THE PIOUS. 303 

reason is sufficient to guide men into all necessary 
truth. It denies that man is so depraved as to 
need any such agency as that of the Spirit to con- 
vict and convert. Universalism regards all con- 
viction of sin, and deep sorrow for it, as fanati- 
cism. To those who have fully embraced the 
system, all talk of the Spirit's influences is mad- 
ness. The Spirit must, and is, grieved by such 
undervaluing and denying of the necessity of his 
influences. If a sinner, who is wrought upon by 
the Spirit, is led to give heed to the teachings of 
Universalism, the Spirit leaves him. He loses 
all his convictions, and falls instantly into a care- 
less, unconcerned state. This fact has been so 
often witnessed, that no intelligent christian, who 
has been observant of such influences, doubts it 
for a moment. It is not thus in relation to chris- 
tian churches. A sinner may be convicted of sia 
under the preaching of a minister of one christian 
denomination, and his convictions may be deepen- 
ed under the preaching of a minister of another 
denomination : because they all depend for suc- 
cess upon the same Spirit. It makes the hearts 
of the righteous sad to witness the Spirit grieved, 
and driven from the hearts of sinners, by the prom- 
ise of life and peace to those to whom God has 
said there is no peace, and to whom he has com- 



304 UNIVERSALISM REJECTED 

manded us to say, " O wicked man, thou shall 
surely die." 

VI. Universalism makes the heart of the right- 
eous sad, because it never begets a spirit of pray- 
er, but disinclines to the practice of it all those 
who embrace the system. 

Prayer is a distinguishing mark of a true chris- 
tian. As soon as Saul was converted it w T as said, 
a Behold he prayeth !" It is not only the duty of 
all men to pray, but christians regard it as a high 
and agreeable privilege. If we love God, it is 
perfectly natural that we should delight in hold- 
ing communion with him. It is evidently made 
a condition, or means, in scripture, of receiving 
the blessings of his grace. No duty is more fre- 
quently insisted upon, and no man can be regard- 
ed as a christian who neglects it. But whoever 
heard of a prayerless man becoming inclined to 
prayer by embracing universal salvation ? Pri- 
vate and family prayer is very generally neglected 
by those who embrace it ; and by those who are 
confirmed in the belief of it, it is universally neg- 
lected. There are many who cannot soon rid 
themselves of all the happy influences under which 
they have been educated ; and, as they are not 
quite confident that the system is true, they occa- 
sionally pray. But it is a well known fact that if 
a man has been in the practice of praying in se« 



BY THE PIOUS. 305 

cret, and in the family, and in the social prayer 
meeting, he discards all these practices as soon as 
he embraces the sentiments of Universalism. As 
christians delight in prayer ; as they believe it im- 
portant and useful; as they regard it pleasing to 
God, and as they suppose no soul will ever be 
saved without prayer, it makes them sad to wit- 
ness the prayerless influence of Universalism. 

VII. Universalism makes the heart of the right- 
eous sad, because it never begets a spirit of tender 
compassion for souls. Indeed such a spirit is ut- 
terly repugnant and opposite to the entire system. 
Why should Universalists feel concerned for the 
salvation of souls, when they profess to believe that 
all men are sure of salvation ? It would seem re- 
diculous to themselves, to have " great heaviness 
and continual sorrow of heart" for sinners, be- 
cause of their exposure to divine wrath. It would 
be a perfect solecism. They cannot say that it is 
their " heart's desire and prayer to God" for sin- 
ners that they may be saved, because it would be 
a contradiction of their system. They believe all 
sinners will be saved, without any desire or pray- 
er, on the part of any one. 

Universalists indeed pride themselves on, what 
they call, their benevolence. They think they man- 
ifest superior compassion for souls, because they 

contend that all souls will be saved. But alas, 

26* 



306 UNIVERSALISM REJECTED 

their's is " the tender mercy of the wicked" — it is 
" cruel." They must themselves acknowledge 
that if their system is false, it is the high road to 
ruin. If it is true, it is strange that none but the 
wicked should see it — strange that all the inspired 
penmen should speak in such a manner that the 
whole christian world should be led to disbelieve 
it — strange that it should find no support in the 
annalogy of nature, or in the understanding of 
man. The benevolence of which thev talk, is a 
benevolence subversive of all order, and law, and 
government, and utterly opposed to the benevo- 
lence of God. Their benevolence has no refer- 
ence to the lawgiver, nor to the good of society ; 
it looks only at one object — deliverance from pun- 
ishment. That is not an enlightened benevolence 
which would snatch a criminal from the hand of 
justice : that is not an enlightened benevolence, it 
is unrighteousness, that would throw open our 
prison gates, and let loose upon society a band of 
unreformed men to prey upon its interests. The 
benevolence and compassion of which they talk, 
every man must see, is entirely different from the 
benevolence and compassion of Bible saints. We 
hear them saying, " Horror hath taken hold upon 
me because of the transgressors": " Rivers of wa- 
ter run down mine eyes, because of the wicked 
that forsake thy law": " O that my head were 



BY THE PIOUS. 307 

waters and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I 
might weep day and night, for the slain of the 
daughter of my people." "It is my heart's de- 
sire, and prayer to God for Israel that they may 
be saved." " I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, 
my conscience also bearing me witness in the Ho- 
ly Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continu- 
al sorrow in my heart, for my brethren, my kin- 
dred according to the flesh." Universalism nev- 
er begets such a spirit ; — it produces no revivals — 
it is instrumental in the conversion of no souls — it 
gathers not into the kingdom of Christ, but scat- 
ters abroad. It makes the heart of the righteous 
sad. 

There are many other reasons why the promul- 
gation of Universalism makes the hearts of the 
righteous sad, but we forbear to dwell upon them. 

To draw our remarks to a close, we ask, whe- 
ther, if the doctrine of universal salvation were 
true, it would be rejected by all men as soon as 
they are converted ? Many among Universalists 
have been taken hold of by divine truth, and ex- 
perienced a change of heart, and, without an ex- 
ception, they have immediately left their ranks. 
Many teachers of Universalism have been brought 
to see the error of their ways, and to turn unto the 
Lord, and, like Saul when he was converted, they 
have immediately turned all their powers to build 



308 UNIVERSALISM REJECTED; 

up the faith, which, while Universalists, they had 
labored to destroy. There is a peculiarity in all 
christians^ of all denominations, by which they un- 
derstand and know one another. That peculiar- 
ity is never found in the ranks of Universalism. 
Indeed no man can be a christian, and believe in 
the doctrine of universal salvation. A christian 
must love God's law — not its commands only, 
but its penalty. A christian must love the gospel, 
not only the salvation it brings, but its sanctions. 
A christian must be reconciled to God. Now if 
the sanction of the law and gospel, is everlasting 
punishment, and it is true that God will inflict 
endless misery upon the finally impenitent, then 
a Universalist cannot be a christian, because he 
loves no such sanctions, and plainly says that he 
loves no such God. If then none but the uncon* 
verted embrace the doctrine of universal salvation, 
does not this circumstance sufficiently reveal its 
original ? "Were it of God, the people of God, 
the great mass at least of those who stand out in 
bold relief as his children and servants, would 
embrace it, and contend for it. Who then will be 
willing, for a single moment, to think of settling 
down upon a system, embraced and believed by 
the notoriously wicked, and rejected by all de- 
vout, praying, and godly people ? 

It is sometimes said by Universalists, that " all 



BY THE PIOUS. 309 

christians wish their system true ; and if their be- 
nevolence leads them to desire it, God's benevo- 
lence, which is greater, will certainly make it 
true." But it is a great mistake to suppose, that 
all christians desire it to be true : — no christian 
can under standingly wish it to be true, for it would 
be unreconciliation to God : — it would be wishing 
that God would not do, what he has plainly told 
us he will do. Every christian sincerly desires 
all men to repent, and come to the knowledge of 
the truth, and be saved ; and God himself desires 
it ; but no christian wishes God to save those 
whom he has most explicitly told us he will not 
save. No christian wishes that he himself might 
be saved in impenitency and unbelief. Salvation 
from sin, indeed, is more the object of his desires 
and prayers, than salvation from punishment. No 
christian ever prays God to save man in impeni- 
tency and unbelief. If any one wishes God to 
save all men — those who die in their sins, toge- 
ther with those who repent and turn — he has not 
the Spirit of God, nor the mind of Christ. He is 
unreconciled to God. 

The announcement of Universalism makes all 
sincere christians stand aghast, as at the appear- 
ance of the faithless among the faithful. It sends 
a chill over them, like the approaching shades of 
death. Like the fleshless old man, w T ith the hour- 



310 UNIVERSALISM REJECTED 

glass and scythe, it cuts down all that comes with- 
in its influence. Its footsteps are marked by de- 
solation. It is seen as a dark, dense cloud, highly 
charged with lightning and storm, and wo to the 
family, or neighborhood, upon which it descends, 
We know " it smiles and smiles," but its smiles 
are death. It has the serpent's power to charm. 
There is melodious sweetness in its voice, " Thou 
shalt not surely die ;" but that charm makes the 
death of its victim sure. Suffer then a word of 

exhortation. " Enter not into the path of the 

i 

wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid 
it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. 
For they sleep not except they have done mis- 
chief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they 
cause some to fall. For they eat the bread of 
wickedness, and drink the wine of violence. But 
the path of the juat £» eis the shining; light, that 
shineth more and more unto the perfect day. 
The way of the wicked is as darkness ; they know 
#ot at what they stumble. " # 

fProv,ivJ4~l&, 



LECTURE XIII. 



THE IMMUTABILITY OF MAN'S MORAL CHARACTER AND 
CONDITION IN A FUTURE STATE. 



Rev. xxii. 11. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he 
which is filthy, let him be filthy still : and he that is righteous, let him 
be righteous still : and he that is holy, let him be holy still. 

In this world every thing is given to change. 
Nothing is fixed and permanent. Seasons change, 
the times change, governments change, families 
change, friendships change. On all the works of 
man, and on all things that pertain to him, muta- 
bility is legibly inscribed. 

We are to-day, perhaps, enjoying all that heart 
can wish : our bodies are vigorous, our spirits 
gay, our friends numerous, our means of gratifica- 
tion diversified and accessible at all times : soon 
the scene may be changed, and we may be cast 
down from our pinnacle of happiness, our honor 
may be laid in the dust ; we may be languishing 



312 CHARACTER IMMUTABLE 

on a bed of sickness, and deprived of every earth- 
ly enjoyment. Whatever it be which now con- 
stitutes the basis of our enjoyment, it may soon 
become a " spear on which our peace shall bleed, 
and our hope expire." At one time, we may be 
rejoicing in the downfall of our enemy, or in the 
prospect of his speedy ruin, — at another, he may 
rise from oppression like an eagle, and mock at 
our calamity. How many a Haman has been 
executed upon the gallows which he had erected 
for a Mordecai. " Rejoice not, when thine ene- 
my falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when 
he stumbleth : lest the Lord see it and it displease 
him, and he turn away his wrath from him. " % At 
present we may be rolling in wealth, and luxury, 
— our table may be loaded with the fruits of the 
earth, the riches of the sea, and the fowls of heav- 
en, — every thing may be contributing to our hap- 
piness ; and anon, one spark of fire, or some sud- 
den reverse of fortune, may doom us to poverty. 
One day, our children may be in health and a 
large circle of friends may be studying our happi- 
ness, — another day, one messenger may follow 
another, as in the case of Job, to tell in our ears, 
their lone tale of sorrow. Like David we may be 
thrown into the depths of wretchedness, by the 
child who should have been our solace under in- 

Prov. xxiv. 17, 18. 



IN A FUTURE WORLD. 31 



n 



firmity and age. At one time, we may be honor- 
able in our own eyes, and in the eyes of others ; 
at another time, some barbed arrow of slander 
may lay our honor low, and embitter all our com- 
forts. To-day you may be the picture of health 
and vivacity, you may feel your nerves to be like 
iron and your sinews like brass ; to-morrow, dis- 
ease may seize you like a lion his prey, and your 
strength may wither like the green herb. To-day 
you may be sinning, in the expectation that you 
shall at some future period repent ; — to-morrow, 
possibly, you may like Nebuchadnezzar be depri- 
ved of reason, or like Pharaoh be sealed up under 
final impenitence. To-day your prospects for 
future life may be animating and bright ; — to-mor- 
row, not a star may break the gloom and darkness 
which shall overspread you. Those w T ho are on 
the summit of fortune's w T heel to-day, to-morrow 
may be at its base. To-day you are alive, to- 
morrow you may be dead. 

Every thing in this world is uncertain and 
changing. This mutability constitutes, in part, 
our misery, and, in part, our hope. It is our mis- 
ery, because the fickleness of fortune, as it is of- 
ten termed, — the consideration that our prosperity 
and joys may change, forbids our confidence in 
them, and embitters our comforts. It is our hope, 

that we know 7 the day of prosperity may be set 

27 



314 CHARACTER IMMUTABLE 

over against the day of adversity. Were every 
thing fixed and permanent here, we should de- 
spair of man's renewal into the divine image. He 
that is unjust may now become just ; he that is 
filthy, pure ; and he that is unholy, holy ; but eve- 
ry thing beyond this life is fixed : — in another 
state there will be no changes. He who enters 
upon that state filthy will remain filthy, and he 
who is there found unholy will continue unholy 
forever. 

The immutability of man's moral character and 
state in a future world, shall constitute the theme 
of our lecture this evening. The direct scripture 
proof of this position, has been attended to in our 
former lectures. Indeed, all our arguments in 
proof of the endless punishment of the wicked es- 
tablish this point. To a few thoughts, not fully 
considered elsewhere in their bearing upon this 
point, we now invite your attention. 

I. That there will be no change of man's moral 
character and condition in a future state, is evi- 
dent from the fact, that probation is limited. 

A man's future state commences at the mo- 
ment of his death. Probation, in its very nature, 
must be limited. Unlimited probation is a con- 
tradiction in terms. That man has a state of pro- 
bation, will not be disputed by any one but an in- 
fidel. No one, who has any confidence in Bible 



IN A FUTURE WORLD. 315 

testimony, can dispute it. All the providences of 
God, all the offers of salvation, the strivings of the 
Spirit, the appointment of a ministry of reconcilia- 
tion, the appointment of a future judgment, — we 
had almost said, every page of holy scripture, is 
corrobative of this fact. This period, we say is 
limited, — it must be limited, — it cannot be contin- 
ued without end. Where then are its natural 
bounds ? It must be seen by every one, that the 
bow of its promise and hopes stretches only from 
the cradle to the grave. Its broad arch covers 
the period of human life. Beyond the grave it 
cannot extend. There is no point, to which it 
can be limited, beyond the grave. 

That probation is confined to the present life is 
obvious, from the very great stress which every 
where in scripture, is laid upon the present time. 
" Now is the accepted time, behold now is the day 
of salvation." " To-day, if ye will hear his voice, 
harden not your hearts." " Boast not thyself of 
to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may 
bring forth." " Whatever thy hand findeth to do, 
do it with thy might, for there is no work, nor de- 
vise, nor wisdom, in the grave whither thou go- 
est." It is also obvious from what our Lord said 
of Judas ; « it were good for that man, if he had not 
been born." If man's state of probation did not 
end with this life, he might in a future state be 



316 CHARACTER IMMUTABLE 

converted and saved. It is also evident from 
what Abraham said to the rich man, — " between 
us and you, there is a great gulf fixed : so that 
they who would pass from hence to you cannot ; 
neither can they pass to us, that would come from 
thence." This gulf was no natural chasm. It 
consisted in the difference of moral character be- 
tween the righteous and the wicked, and it never 
can be passed by any change of character or con- 
dition in either. 

Probation is a period of trial, — a time to prove 
us, — a time allotted us to form a character, to 
adapt our tastes and habits to the society of heav- 
en, or hell. At death this period closes, — this 
trial is complete, and our character, tastes, and 
habits are formed. Beyond this time, " he which 
is filthy, will be filthy still ; and he that is holy, 
will be holy still." This truth appears self-evi- 
dent. It bears upon its very statement the evi- 
dence of demonstration. The scriptures abund- 
antly confirm it, and the wisest men, who have 
received instruction from the book of nature only, 
have believed it. 

II. None of the peculiar means which God has 
appointed to produce a change of moral character, 
will be employed to that end in a future state. 

God has instituted means for the renewal of 
men into the divine likeness ; and he has not only 



IN A FUTURE WORLD. 



317 



chosen the good in preference to the less efficient, 
but we have reason to believe that he has chosen 
the wisest and most powerful means that can be 
employed, so that if these fail to convert men, no- 
thing else can produce that change. 

Among these means may be reckoned the Sab- 
bath, and the sanctuary. More souls are convert- 
ed on the Sabbath than on all the other days of the 
week. It is then, especially, that the good seed 
is scattered abroad. All the instrumentalities of 
heaven, on that day, are brought into action. " It 
is the day that the Lord hath made," and he 
made it for man, — for his spiritual and everlasting 
benefit. On this day Jesus, more especially^ 
walks forth in the midst of his churches, — revives 
his people, — stirs up within them a tender com- 
passion for souls, — enriches them with truth, and 
prepares and prompts them to " go forth weep- 
ing, bearing precious seed." By withdrawing 
men from their secular business, and bringing 
truth, and eternal realities before their minds, it 
operates mightily in curbing their unholy propen- 
sities, fastening upon them a conviction of truth, 
and turning them to the Lord. It is an unspeak- 
able gift to those in a state of probation, whose 
eternal interests are suspended upon their hearing, 
understanding, and embracing the truth, and ac- 
cepting the terms which God has provided and of- 

27* 



318 CHARACTER IMMUTABLE 

fered them through the atoning blood of his dear 
Son. In this respect the Sabbath is of all other 
days the most beneficial and important. The 
sanctuary, and Sabbath schools, are seminaries of 
sacred learning and discipline. In them, souls 
are trained for the service, and learn the language 
and songs, of heaven, and have their character and 
tastes moulded for the communion and fellowship 
of the blessed. The eternity of the saints will be 
one unending Sabbath, of which their Sabbaths 
here are only a shadow. 

But the wicked will have no Sabbath in a fu- 
ture state. For them there is no peace, no rest, 
none of those sacred, soothing, and promising in- 
fluences designated by the Sabbath. 

u In that lone land of deep despair, 
No Sabbath's heavenly light shall rise,. 
Nor God regard their bitter prayer, 
Nor Saviour call them to the skies." 

No church going bell, with its solemn, heart-stir- 
ring peals, will invite them to the sanctuary. No 
multitude will there be seen filing their way to 
the house of God. No voice of entreaty to turn 
to the Lord, nor songs of praise, will ever break 
upon their ears. All the despised, neglected, and 
hated solemnities of the Sabbath and the sanctua- 
ry, will have ceased forever. And why, indeed, 
should the wicked have the Sabbath, and the sane- 



IN A FUTURE WORLD. 319 

tuary in their eternal state ? Have they not tram- 
pled upon them, and abused them, sufficiently ? 
Every seven years of their life, they have had one 
whole year of Sabbaths, all of which, with the 
concentrated influences of heaven brought upon 
them, have been disregarded. Why should they 
have any more Sabbaths ? Why should the sanc- 
tuary, with its solemn warnings, and invitations, 
be brought near them any more ? God knows 
that they would misimprove, and abuse them. 
No ; they will have no more, — the last Sabbath 
will pass away with their life time. The voice 
which has oft called upon the filthy, unrighteous, 
and unholy, to turn, will be heard no more : and 
the unchangeableness of all things will seem ever 
to be repeating, "He that is unjust, let him be 
unjust still ; and he which is filthy, let him be fil- 
thy still ; and he that is righteous, let him be 
righteous still ; and he that is holy, let him be ho- 
ly still." 

The Bible, is another of heaven's means for 
producing a change of moral character. It comes 
to man as a sinner, and assails the heart, as with a 
"fire and hammer. n By no other means, than 
its precious truths, can a saving conversion be pro- 
duced. No system of human invention can do it* 
How much soever error may seem calculated to 
take hold of men, and stop them in their course of 



320 CHARACTER IMMUTABLE 

sinning, it will not produce a saving and perma- 
nent change. It is interesting to witness the reit- 
erated failures of the various systems of error to 
convert men, as it shows the superior efficacy of 
scripture truth. To this end the system of truth 
revealed in the Bible was given, and if it fails to 
convert all, it is because the power of depravity 
opposes it " lest they should be converted and be 
healed." 

But precious and important as the Bible is to us 
here, the saints in heaven will not need it. They 
will sit at the feet of the great Teacher himself. 
M The Lamb which is in the midst of the throne 
shall feed them, and lead them unto living foun- 
tains of waters." The Bible is a book for time, 
and not adapted in all its parts to our eternal state. 
It is a perspective glass, given us to see the distant 
shores of eternity, and we shall not need it when 
we arrive there. It is a light to guide our feet 
amid the present darkness, but there will be no 
need of its light when the sun rises to go no more 
down. 

To sinners in the world of despair, no holy Bi- 
ble will be given. They will there be pointed to 
no precious promise of mercy — they will hear no 
kind warning — no melting invitation to come to 
Christ. They will have done with the Bible, and 
its life giving truths, forever. Its warnings, and 



IN A FUTURE WORLD. 321 

invitations, and promises, and instructions, will 
have no appropriateness to them in their future 
state. None of the pure, refreshing, vivifying 
streams which proceed from it, and give existence 
to so many joys and blessings even here, will 
reach them there. It is now " able to make 
them wise unto salvation, through faith in Christ 
Jesus," but if they " will none of its counsels, 
and despise all its reproofs," it will soon cease to 
counsel and reprove them ; and they will exist, in 
another state, only to reap its maledictions. 

The great and important means, which God has 
appointed to break the power of sin, and promote 
the reign of holiness in the heart of man, is the 
preaching of Christ crucified. It is this that gives 
efficacy to the Sabbath, and the sanctuary : this is 
the grand, central, truth of the Bible, around 
which, as the sun in the centre of the system, all 
the preciousness of its promises, all the sublimity 
of its doctrines, all the fervor of its devotions, all 
the impassioned strains of its warnings, its invita- 
tions, and its entreaties, revolve. This is the 
great truth of truths, and it must be brought to 
bear upon the heart ere its enminy will be slain. 
This is the wisdom of God, and the power of God 
unto salvation. But is it not plain that the doc- 
trine of the cross never will be proclaimed to 
men, in a future state ? Christ crucified will nev- 



322 CHARACTER IMMUTABLE 

cr be set before them there as a refuge from the 
storm. Is it not plain that, if through their whole 
life time, they reject this great salvation, it will 
be forever withdrawn ? Is it not clear, if they 
here continue to " tread under foot the Son of 
God," that more than the curses of Moses' law 
must be their portion forever ? God has given 
his only begotten Son to be a propiation for sin, — 
he has no other to give, — -there can be no other 
sacrifice for sin ; and if the heart refuses to be 
subdued under this affecting expression of the love 
of God in Christ Jesus, " in setting him forth to 
be a propitiation for sin," it must harden forever 
amid " the fire that never shall be quenched.' 1 

The Spirit of God is the great agent employed 
to produce in this world a change in man's moral 
character. The Spirit alone can render efficient 
other instrumentalities. Even the truth itself falls 
like seed among thorns, unless the Spirit breaks 
up the fallow ground. It is the Spirit that makes 
the truth like a sharp two edged sword. He alone 
can convince of sin, righteousness, and judgment, 
and effectually turn a sinner from his downward 
course. 

The saints in heaven, will not need the Spirit 
for the performance of any of his peculiar office 
work upon earth. It is the office work of the 
Spirit to convert, to illuminate, to sanctify, and to 



IN A FUTURE WORLD. 323 

comfort. But they have entered upon the heav- 
enly state fully converted, illuminated, and sanc- 
tified, and there will be nothing there to afflict 
them, or mar their happiness. The days of their 
mourning will be ended. Their joys will be 
complete. 

The Spirit follows the sinner down to the grave 
with his gracious calls and warnings. He strives 
with him, as long as striving is consistent with in- 
finite wisdom, and benevolence. He calls upon 
most sinners to " turn," until the last step in life 
is taken. At death he leaves them, and leaves 
them forever. It is absurd to suppose that after 
striving with them through their whole life time 
without effecting their conversion, that he will 
follow them into eternity, and strive with them 
there. The Spirit is easily grieved. Hence the 
many cautions that are given us. And will he 
not be so grieved by the final impenitence of sin- 
ners at death, that he will strive with them no 
more ? All that the Spirit will ever do, for the 
conversion of sinners, he is doing now. Let eve- 
ry one take heed then how he resists his gracious 
influences. In resisting the Spirit, — in trying to 
obliterate the solemn impression he has made up- 
on your heart, — in rejecting, or trying to destroy 
the force of the truth he has brought before your 
mind, — in trying to shut out that light, which 



324 CHARACTER IMMUTABLE 

makes you tremble at your character and condi* 
tion, — in trying to overcome your fears of sinning, 
and of longer neglecting the great salvation, — in 
resisting his gracious operations in any of these 
ways, you are opposing God, in his kind and 
merciful efforts to pluck you as a brand from the 
burning. Beware then lest the Spirit take his 
everlasting flight. In resisting him for this time, 
you may be resisting him for the last time. There 
will be a last time ; perhaps it is now. Will you 
let him depart ? "Will you not cry : 

u Stay, thou insulted Spirit, stay : 
Though I have done thee such despite^ 
Cast not a sinner quite away, 
Noi' take thine everlasting flight.' 7 

From the very nature of all the other agencies 
which God here employs to produce a change of 
moral character among sinners, it is quite evident 
that none of them will be used to convert the final- 
ly impenitent in the other world. None of those 
little winged messengers of mercy will meet you 
there, which now so often light in your dwellings, 
and every where meet your eye. In the most art- 
less, and affecting strains, they beseech you to 
listen to them while they speak of " Time, and 
eternity," of " Heaven, and hell," of" the great 
salvation," and of "the accepted time." They 
would give you the history of many saints and 



IN A FUTURE WORLD. o25 

sinners, that they might warn you to flee from the 
wrath to come, and win you to holiness and hap- 
piness. But not a page of promise, of warning, 
or of entreaty, will ever be communicated to the 
impenitent, when they shall have finished their 
present life time. There will be no faithful, gos- 
pel minister, or devout, humble, and praying 
christians, in the world of despair. Heaven is 
their home. Their prayers for sinners will all 
have been given. Their Saviour will have wiped 
away all tears from their eyes, and never suffer 
them any more to grieve and be in heaviness on 
account of the wickedness of the wicked. In the 
world of despair there will be no religious confer- 
ence and prayer meetings. There will be no 
saints there to conduct them. Such meetings are 
now, happy means of grace. Many a saint can 
look to them, as the place where the truth first ar- 
rested him ; and when the " Lord writeth up the 
people it will be said of many, This and that man 
were born there." 

All the means of grace with which we are bles- 
sed appear to be adapted to the present life only. 
They are instituted and adapted to the peculiar 
circumstances, in which we here exist. If then, 
God has chosen the most wise, benevolent, and 
efficient means, to convert and save men, and 

none of them will be employed to that end be- 

28 



326 CHARACTER IMMUTABLE 

yond the present life, then in the other world there 
will never be any change of moral character. 
" He that is unjust, will be unjust still, and he 
who is filthy, will be filthy still, and he who is 
righteous, will be righteous still, and he who is 
holy, will be holy still." 

III. The condition, and circumstances of beings 
in the other world, are, and will be, such as are 
fitted to confirm and perpetuate, and not to pro- 
duce a change in their moral character. 

Holy angels and saints will be as happy and 
blessed as they can desire. They will see God 
as he is, and be made partakers of his ideas, of his 
felicity, and his holiness. There will be no se- 
ducing spirit among them, and no temptation to 
allure them. The nature and excellence of holi- 
ness, and the odiousness and misery of sin, will 
ever be so vividly before them, that their love of 
holiness, will be as undying as their hatred of sin. 
On the other hand the fallen angels, and sin- 
ners of the human family, will be separated from 
all holiness, and happiness. They will mutually 
provoke and curse one another, and the great 
Judge of all, who has passed sentence upon them. 
It is not in the nature of punishment to produce 
reform. u Braying a fool in a mortar, will not 
cause his foolishness to depart from him." Mere- 
ly punishing a child will not subdue his corrup- 



IN A FUTURE WORLD. 327 

tions. Under the up-lifted rod, without the melt- 
ing tenderness of a parent's love, or some other 
like influence, he will grow more stubborn and 
perverse. The tortures which the wicked will 
experience, will only revive, and strengthen their 
corruptions, and bring out the strongest expres- 
sions of their hatred to God, and to one another. 
They will find no other relief than that of venting 
their malicious feelings, which like fuel added to 
the fire, will only augment the torment of their 
hatred. In just the proportion that holy influ- 
ences cease to be exerted upon them in this life, 
they grow worse and worse ; and as in hell all the 
influences with which they will be surrounded 
will be unholy, they will be calculated to make the 
filthy and unholy, continue filthy and unholy for- 
ever. Their day of probation will be closed ; the 
means of grace, which have proved ineffectual to 
reclaim them through their life time, will be with- 
drawn ; under the inflictions of God's justice, and 
encompassed with evil influences, their sinful char- 
acter will be confirmed, and they will be left to 
reap their eternal harvest of corruption and death. 
In concluding this lecture, let me call your at- 
tention to a few thoughts, which I hope may in- 
duce you " so to number your days, that you may 
apply your hearts unto wisdom." 



328 CHARACTER IMMUTABLE 

I. Our subject invests the present life with very 
great importance. 

We often depreciate the present time, and 
spend our hours as if they were of no value. We 
often seek for means to " kill time," little think- 
ing, that in a dreadful sense, we are killing our 
eternity. This life is every thing to man, because 
his eternity hangs upon it. 

'• Time is eternity, 
Pregnant with all eternity can give, 
Pregnant with all that makes archangels smile :" 

and we may add, 

Pregnant with all that makes lost spirits wail. 

On this life hangs your long eternity; and how 
slender is man's hold upon it : how utterly frail : 

" The spider's most attenuated thread 

Is cord, is cable, to man's tender tie 

On earthly bliss : it breaks at every breeze." 

Yet this life is your eternity in embryo. This brief 
moment fixes your character and state for an un- 
ending eternity. And what is eternity ? " When 
ages numerous as the blossoms of spring, increas- 
ed by the herbage of summer, both augmented by 
the leaves of autumn, and all multiplied by the 
drops of rain which drown the winter ; when 
these and ten thousand times ten thousand more, 
— more than can be represented by any similitude, 
or imagined by any conception ; when all these 



IN A FUTURE WORLD. 329 

are revolved and finished, eternity, vast, bound- 
less, amazing eternity, will only be beginning"* 

With what vast importance are the feelings and 
doings of men invested. It is an eternal charac- 
ter we are forming. There will be no alteration 
in the scenes of futurity. There the wheel never 
turns; all is stedfast and immovable beyond the 
grave. The saints always rejoice amidst the smiles 
of heaven ; and the wicked wail in outer darkness. 
The fatal sentence once passed, is never to be re- 
pealed. There will be no hope of exchanging 
their doleful habitations ; — all things will bear the 
same dismal aspect, forever and ever. Let these 
considerations Eriarm our fears, and animate all 
our endeavors. " Let us give all diligence to 
make our calling and election sure." We are 
living for eternity. It is said that when the prince 
of the Latin Poets was asked by his friend, why 
he studied so much accuracy in the plan of his 
poem, the propriety of his characters, and the pur- 
ity of his diction, he replied, " In seternum pin- 
go," " I am ivriting for eternity." What more 
weighty consideration to justify and enforce the 
utmost vigilance and circumspection of life, than 
this, " In seternum vivo," " I am living for eter- 
nity I" 

2. Our subject shows the deep responsibility 

* Hervev. 



330 CHARACTER IMMUTABLE 

of christians, and should awaken them to dili- 
gence. All that you can ever do for the souls 
of men, must be done now. All that you can 
ever do for the salvation of that friend or child 
must be done now. "When they shall have en- 
tered eternity, you cannot reach them by your 
entreaties or prayers. No change can be wrought 
upon them there. An immovable stone will be 
rolled at the door of their eternal sepulchre, 
from which there will be no resurrection to life 
and happiness. Who then, let me ask, in the 
melting strains of Hervey, " Who has any bow- 
els of pity ? Who has any sentiments of com- 
passion ? Who has any tender concern for his 
fellow creatures ? Who ? — in God's name, and 
for Christ's sake, let him show it, by warning 
every man, and beseeching every man, to seek 
the Lord while he may be found; to throw 
down the arms of his rebellion, before the act 
of indemnity expires, and submissively to adore 
the Lamb while he holds out the golden sceptre. 
— Here let us act the friendly part to mankind ; 
here let the whole force of our benevolence ex- 
ert itself; in exhorting relations, acquaintances, 
neighbors, and whomsoever we may probably 
influence, to take the wings of faith unfeigned, 
of repentance undelayed, and flee away from 
the wrath to come." Flee, O ! flee away from 






IN A FUTURE WORLD. 331 

every refuge of lies ; escape to the Lord Jesus, 
who is willing and able to save to the uttermost, 
and who is a sure and everlasting covert from 
that storm which shall beat with relentless fury 
upon his incorrigible foes. 



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